


hold on to this lullaby (even when the music's gone)

by collegefangirl3791, skywalking-across-the-galaxy (BadWolfGirl01)



Series: lullabies [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: "why is my ori'vod the biggest di'kut ever i swear", ALL THE ANGST, Accidental Cuddling, Accidental Flirting, Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Awkward Flirting, BAMF Ahsoka Tano, Banter, Because of Reasons, Broken Promises, But not in a good way, Canon-Typical Violence, Citadel ARC, Clone Wars, Clones, Cody is Done with life, Commander "i hate my life" Cody, Declarations Of Love, Denial of Feelings, Echo does not die, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, F/M, First Kiss, Flirting, Glacially Slow Burn, Heartbreak, Heavy Angst, Injury, Love Confessions, Mando'a, Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Post-Episode: s03e18 The Citadel, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to the Jedi Council, Rex needs a hug too guys, Rex's smirk is a very powerful thing, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Star-crossed, THEY ARE STILL A HOT MESS, Tarkin is an asshole, The Force, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, distance is not the answer Rex, everything is NOT SOLVED, so is his voice, that does not mean everything is solved, why have we not tagged angst yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-24 04:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 45,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14947886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collegefangirl3791/pseuds/collegefangirl3791, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolfGirl01/pseuds/skywalking-across-the-galaxy
Summary: “You’re just being protective again,” she snaps, and he turns to look back at her. “That’s not fair! Is it because of my leg? I’m fine, Kix says I can go--” and he scoffs, but she ignores him. “How am I supposed to learn if you don’t let me share the risk?”She’s sick and tired of being trapped in the Temple all the time. Of having nothing but meditation and the occasional supervised lightsaber practice to distract her from the way Rex has retreated, gone cold, professional and steely as though nothing ever happened (gone back to the way he hasn’t been since… for months, now). She wants to go.“This isn’t a mission for learning,” Anakin spits out, gestures sharply. “You either do, or you die. And that’s not a risk I’m willing to share.”[or: the Citadel, and the aftermath of Mortis.]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the first chapter doesn't have a whole lot in terms of canon divergence, but as we go further into the plot there'll be more divergence going on, so stay tuned!
> 
> title from "safe and sound" from the hunger games soundtrack.

The Temple is a roar of activity today, has been ever since the announcement of Master Piell’s capture, the loss of an entire battalion, and subsequent imprisonment in the Citadel; Ahsoka knows there’s a mission coming up, to rescue Master Piell. Expects it to be given to her and Anakin, and Master Obi-Wan--even though Kix is  _ adamant _ she shouldn’t be allowed on a mission that intense yet.

She can hear him now:  _ Commander, you’ve only been walking for two weeks, get your karking ass back in bed before I make you. _

He’s not going to be very pleased when he finds out she’s going to  _ Lola Soyu, _ of all places.

“Master, I’m sorry I’m late,” Ahsoka says, jogging up behind Anakin, Master Obi-Wan, and Master Plo (and she tries to ignore the way  _ running _ still makes her leg ache). “I just heard about the briefing. We’re going to rescue Master Piell, right?”

Obi-Wan gives Anakin a  _ look, _ and her Master stops, turns to her and crosses his arm. Kriff. Kriff, kriff, kriff, that is  _ not good. _ Master Plo turns partway around, gives her a nod, says, “You two have  _ much _ to discuss.”

Damn it.

She looks to Anakin, hoping that she’s not about to hear the words she  _ thinks _ she is, but-- “Ahsoka, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but… you won’t be coming along on this one.”

“Not coming?” she manages, swallows hard. “But you’re  _ breaking into the Citadel. _ No one’s ever  _ done it. _ You’ll need me, Master.”

He shakes his head, turns and starts walking. “The Citadel wasn’t designed to hold common criminals--it was created to hold  _ Jedi, _ if any of us lost our way.” He stops, for a second, his voice dropping a bit. “It’s not a place for padawans.”

“You’re just being protective again,” she snaps, and he turns to look back at her. “That’s not fair! Is it because of my leg? I’m  _ fine, _ Kix says I can go--” and he scoffs, but she ignores him. “How am I supposed to learn if you don’t let me share the risk?”

She’s sick and tired of being trapped in the Temple all the time. Of having nothing but  _ meditation _ and the occasional supervised lightsaber practice to distract her from the way Rex has retreated, gone cold, professional and steely as though nothing ever happened (gone back to the way he hasn’t been since… for  _ months, _ now). She  _ wants to go. _

“This isn’t a mission for learning,” Anakin spits out, gestures sharply. “You either do, or you  _ die. _ And that’s not a risk I’m willing to share.”

And he turns and walks away.

~~~

Rex does  _ not _ want to attack the Citadel. The prison fortress is  _ infamous _ among even the shinies, and they're expected to infiltrate it with a strike team. Not that it's up to him - but if it was, he would count it as a lost cause.

The one saving grace is that Commander Tano is staying behind. Not that he doubts her, or her abilities, but the Citadel was meant to hold Jedi Masters, criminals, and Rex doesn't think there will be space to make mistakes. Kix has kept him updated on the Commander’s leg, and it's mostly healed, but it would slow her down and they couldn't afford that.

Apparently, this mission is going to involve reprogrammed battle droids - under General Skywalker's kriffing  _ astromech _ , because they didn't have enough uncertain elements in their plan. Rex thinks that will be distracting - and he does not particularly appreciate the decision to paint a bunch of clankers in 501st blue. Kriffing ridiculous.

He sees Commander Tano talking to General Plo (and, if he had to guess based on her expression, she’s  _ annoyed _ \- hells, she probably wishes she was going along), walks a little faster towards where Generals Skywalker and Kenobi have just walked into the hangar with Echo and a few more of his men.

And this is the other part of the plan Rex isn’t particularly fond of - actually, this is the bit  _ so far _ that has him the most on edge. “I’ve never been carbon frozen before, General,” he says, falling in next to Skywalker, tightening his hold on the helmet under his arm. Carbon freezing isn’t for  _ lifeforms _ , kriff’s sake.

“Yeah, it’s a first for us too,” Skywalker says, like  _ that’s _ reassuring.

General Kenobi makes an unimpressed, dubious noise that Rex has become  _ very _ familiar with. “ _ This _ is your idea?  _ Carbon freezing? _ ”

Skywalker shrugs carelessly. “Hey, you wanted to shield us from the lifeform scanners.”

Rex wants to stay home.

Fives twists around to look at all of them as they come to a stop next to the daunting-looking mechanics of the carbon freezing system, frowning. “Are… we  _ sure _ this thing is safe? I don’t wanna end up a wall decoration.” As if anyone would hang up  _ Fives _ for  _ decoration _ . Rex raises an eyebrow at him, knows his  _ vod _ knows exactly what he means, but other than an offended look, Fives remains concerned. Kriffing  _ vod _ is worried about his face getting kriffed up.

“Try to relax,” General Kenobi says, which is  _ horrible _ advice, how does  _ that _ help? “We’ll be unfrozen as soon as we arrive.”

And once they’re unfrozen, they go straight into the most dangerous mission they’ll probably ever attempt. Yes, thank you, General Kenobi, they’ll certainly  _ try _ to  _ relax _ . Hells.

Rex pins his bucket even tighter against his side, steps up where he’s directed to by a technician, grits his teeth. He does  _ not want to do this _ , however skilled their strike team, and he’s got a tight feeling in his stomach; without meaning to, he looks toward where he last saw Commander Tano, because- he’s not even sure. But he doesn’t see her, and before he can be concerned about that, the hydraulic lift he’s standing on lowers him into a dark, narrow space (and  _ gods _ , he does not  _ like  _ that, he’s trapped), and there’s only a momentary snap of  **_cold_ ** before there’s nothing.

~~~

The carbon freeze releases with a hiss-snap and a sudden rush of  _ warmth _ across her skin, and Ahsoka stumbles forward, catches herself on the carbonite in front of her, yawns and stretches the cricks out of her neck and shoulders.

“Hey, Snips,” Anakin says tiredly, stretching himself, fiddling with the join between his mech hand and his arm.

She yawns again, runs a hand over her face, her montrals, headtails (checking to make sure everything feels right), steps out from between the carbonite slabs. “Hey, Master.” Puts her hands on her hips and closes her eyes, stretching out her spine.

“I must have carbon sickness,” Master Obi-Wan says. “I could swear that’s Ahsoka.”

Anakin makes a noise, and she opens her eyes, looks over to see a  _ very displeased _ look on his face. “Your eyes are  _ fine,” _ he growls. “It’s  _ Ahsoka’s hearing _ that needs help.”

“I received orders to join the team,” she says, walks a few steps away and hopes her voice is steady (hopes Anakin can’t tell she’s definitely lying). “I thought you knew!” She at least  _ seems _ mostly-innocent.

_ “Orders?” _ Anakin asks, disbelieving. “From who?”

“I  _ discussed it _ with Master Plo.” Which is close enough to the truth…

“He didn’t tell me.”

“You were… already in carbonite.”

Anakin closes his eyes, grits his teeth, and Ahsoka takes a relieved breath. She’s  _ here, _ now, so they can’t send her home. And her excuse is valid enough--they won’t be able to verify it until after the mission, so… “Well,  _ I _ gave you a  _ specific order _ not to come!” and he stabs his finger threateningly at her.

She grins disarmingly. “If there’s  _ one thing _ I’ve learned from you, Master, it’s that following  _ direct orders _ isn’t always the best way to solve a problem.”

Obi-Wan comes over, then, grinning. “I see Anakin’s new teaching method is  _ do as I say, not as I do,” _ and he smiles warmly at her. “Welcome aboard.”

~~~

Rex feels shaky as a newborn fathier when awareness comes back, nearly falls stepping out, has to brace himself against the frame of one of the slabs of carbonite.  _ Kriff _ , he doesn’t care for this feeling, all woozy and dizzy and like his exposed skin is too  _ sensitive _ . He glances around, instinctively, sees no threats - just his Generals, his Commander, his  _ vode _ , so he blinks hard, gives half an ear to the annoyed conversation from his Jedi, and tries to get the spots away from his vision.

Someone sets a light, sienna hand on his pauldron, and he makes himself straighten, gives them (her; his Commander) a grateful smile.

“You look really disoriented, Rex, you okay?”

_Kriffing. Hells._ _She_ ** _did not._** “Commander!” he snaps, sharply, then quickly reins himself back in, although he can’t quite help the scowl that freezes onto his face. “Commander, I thought you weren’t coming.”

“So did Master Skywalker,” she says archly, eyes twinkling, like he’s supposed to find this  _ amusing _ .

“ _ Haar’chak _ , sir,” he says feelingly. “You’re  _ kidding _ .”

“What does that mean? You all say that a lot.”

Rex scowls harder, shoots Cody a disbelieving look; his  _ ori’vod _ just looks distantly amused. “ _ Damn it _ , Commander Tano. You weren’t- All due respect, but you weren’t supposed to be here, for a  _ reason _ .”

“Kix cleared me to come.”

“ _ The hells _ he did,” Rex snarls, doesn’t  _ mean _ to exactly, it’s just he knows Kix and he knows Commander Tano and who does she think she’s kidding? “Sir-”

“ _ Ori’vod _ ,” Cody says mildly. “ _ Kaysh gaan _ .”

For kriff’s sake. Rex forgot.

“What’s that mean?” Commander Tano asks,  _ so _ bright-eyed. Rex will never understand why Jedi get like this when they don’t know things.

He grunts a little, shrugs her hand off his pauldron, shakes his head. “Never mind, Commander.”

She  _ pouts _ at him - the  _ nerve  _ of her, when she shouldn’t even  _ be here _ . He glares at her, jams his helmet pointedly on his head.  _ Kriffing hells,  _ wasn’t this all bad enough when he still thought he wouldn’t have to worry about her? Now he’s gotta be keeping an eye on his barely-not-injured Commander, who  _ definitely _ doesn’t have permission to be here.

~~~

Rex makes a point of  _ not acknowledging _ her presence as they leave the ship behind for the nearest observation point, instead walking next to Cody. She trails behind the two of them, mostly  _ amused, _ probably  _ too _ pleased by Rex’s reaction--but  _ honestly, _ so maybe he’s mad, but it’s the most emotion he’s given her since Mortis, and  _ kriff _ but it feels nice to know he doesn’t totally hate her.

Because he wouldn’t be  _ angry _ at her if he wasn’t concerned, right?

Unless he’s just… mad because she’s not competent enough, and her presence here will jeopardize the entire  _ mission, _ which… shavit, she didn’t want to think about that, but now that the possibility’s entered her mind it won’t go away.

Kriff.

Anakin drops to his knees, pulls out his macrobinoculars, and starts scanning the prison tower, the walls. “I see our entry point,” he says, frowning.

“You were right.” Cody’s voice crackles through his helmet. “The wind conditions are too strong for jetpacks.”

“We’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way,” says Obi-Wan, snorting. “With ascension cables and a steel grip.”

“I don’t think so,” Anakin says.

“What do you mean?”

“Electromines. There’s no way to put a grappling hook at that height,” he says, and Rex swears under his breath, that  _ haar’chak _ word again, drawing her attention to him.

She’d much rather look at him than listen to them talk about how they’re going to get up to the entry point. He kriffing has his  _ kama _ on, obviously, why  _ wouldn’t _ she want to look at him? They’re kriffing  _ cool. _

“I suppose that means we  _ freeclimb _ it.” Rex sounds not at all pleased, and she grins.

Pats his pauldron lightly as she walks past him to investigate (lets her hand linger for just a second longer than necessary). “Oh, don’t worry, Rexter,” she says, shoots him a bright grin. “It’s rocky enough there’ll be plenty of handholds--it’ll be  _ easy _ to climb.”

~~~

Kriff her. Rex scowls at her retreating back, because that’s easy for  _ her _ to say, a Jedi and not lugging around armor and  _ kama _ and a pack with supplies and a blaster rifle in it. And he doesn’t like the implication that he’s scared, because he’s not. He just- looks up at that  _ damn _ cliff face, and maybe he isn’t exactly looking  _ forward _ to it. Kark it.

Cody’s voice comes over their helmet feed, dry as dust. “Rex,  _ ori’vod _ , for kriff’s sake  _ sur’ar _ .”

“It’s not exactly  _ easy _ ,  _ vod _ , I kriffing hate heights and you know it.”

“That’s not what I was talking about.”

Rex scowls and pushes forward to stand behind his General, ignores Cody. His  _ vod _ needs to give him a break; he has this under control, he doesn’t need Cody lecturing him constantly.

“This is gonna be fun,” Fives says on comms, dryly.

Yeah. That was the word he was thinking of.

As he had expected, the climb is  _ distinctly not fun _ . It’s not so bad at first, when a fall wouldn’t actually  _ kill _ him and his hands aren’t tired and all his men and officers are moving fine, not struggling. As long as he doesn’t  _ look down _ , as long as he doesn’t  _ think _ , he’s more or less alright.

It’s when they get up among the electromines and Rex sees Commander Tano starting to slow (so that he starts catching up with her a bit) that it gets harder to ignore his anxiety; the wind grabs at anything it can reach, dragging against his  _ kama _ , the edges of his armor. He wants to be  _ done _ climbing but it feels like there’s very far yet to go.

Although when he looks down (mistake mistake mistake), he realizes they’ve climbed further, faster than he thought.

His Commander should not be climbing on her leg yet. He jams his hand into a crevice in the rock and hauls himself a few feet higher. “Kriffing heights,” he mutters, hears Charger laugh shortly. “It’s not funny,  _ vod _ ,” he growls, shortly.

“It kind of is, sir,” Charger answers, and Rex spots the trooper over to his right, staring at him,  _ probably _ grinning.

This is  _ not funny _ . Kriffing Commander Tano’s probably amused too.

Kriffing Commander Tano shouldn’t be freeclimbing a kriffing rock face, but she just  _ had _ to smuggle herself along.

So as they climb, he keeps an eye on her, or at least as much of one as he can without breaking his own concentration. She’s keeping up with them alright, although she’s slowed down enough that she’s closer to him now than she was to the Generals. She should have stayed back on Coruscant, hells.

Except she’d probably be alright now if it weren’t for him.

But it’s not his fault she’s  _ here _ \- he wishes he could yell at her about it like she was one of his younger  _ vode _ , but she’s not, she’s his Commander. Doesn’t mean she isn’t being stupid.

They’re close - Kenobi’s nearly reached the ledge, makes it look so  _ damn _ easy.  _ Jedi _ , honestly - he and Skywalker don’t even have tabards this mission, which is kriffing  _ stupid _ .

~~~

Ahsoka should not be doing this.

She  _ knows _ that, very clearly, knows that her leg isn’t healed enough for this, that Kix will be  _ furious, _ that she’s probably injuring herself--in her defense, she hadn’t known they’d be  _ freeclimbing _ a karking  _ cliff _ when she decided to join the mission. Er, when she was  _ assigned _ to the mission. Right.

Her leg  _ aches _ every time she tries to push herself up on it, meaning she’s climbing slower than half the  _ vode, _ and she grits her teeth, grabs for the Force and suppresses the pain because she needs to  _ get up there. _ Still, she grimaces as she climbs, demands  _ more _ from her body. She  _ has _ to get up there.

“It’s  _ ray-shielded!” _ Master Obi-Wan is shouting down at Anakin, now, from his position just below the platform, and she makes a face. Kriff.

“That wasn’t in the plan!” Anakin snaps back, sounds strangely  _ offended. _

“Well, it’s in the plan  _ now!” _

There’s silence for a moment, then Ahsoka braces herself on her feet, wedges her toes deeper into the crevices she’s balanced on, digs the fingers of her left hand into her handhold and leans back, peering up, using her right hand to block the wind a bit. “There’s an opening up there!” she calls (almost swears as her fingers, cramped and shaking and scraped raw, palms bloody and clammy with sweat, crusted with gravel and dust, slip and she barely manages to catch herself).

“We  _ know, _ Snips, it’s the ventilation ducts, but we can’t  _ fit,” _ her Master says.

She frowns. “I think I could fit, I’m small enough.”

“We didn’t plan on Ahsoka being here,” Obi-Wan says, gives her a nod, which is enough for her.

So she grits her teeth and  _ pushes, _ leaps several meters up the cliff with a Force-jump, catches herself on a protruding lip of rock with one hand and lets her body swing into the cliff face; balances there, precarious, for a moment, then gets her feet underneath her (and ow ow ow her leg hurts), wipes sweat off her forehead and out of her eyes (leaves behind a streak of dirt and blood), repeats the maneuver. A third jump gets her in position to jog up to the grating covering the duct, and she pulls it off, setting it down, and hesitates for a moment before worming her way inside.

It’s a tight fit.

Her breaths echo off the walls and she can barely see, and this is so much worse than sneaking through the vents in the Temple as a curious youngling. Those vents are at least big enough for her to crawl--this one is so narrow she has to shimmy along like an inchworm until she reaches a hole. By  _ reaches, _ she means  _ nearly falls through, _ because she doesn’t see it until she’s literally on top of it and it’s only quick reflexes and catching herself on the edge that keeps her from tipping headfirst onto the floor below.

There’s a couple droids marching around the corner, and she waits until they’ve disappeared before she lets herself fall, flips while in midair and lands on her feet, settles into a low combat stance (ignores the way her leg  _ aches _ from the strain) for a few seconds before standing and hurrying to unlock the ray-shields. She walks to the edge of the platform (or, rather, limps, because she can’t quite manage to walk normally), says, “We’re clear,” and waits.

~~~

Between Ahsoka  _ leaning off _ the cliff face, nearly slipping, and then jumping from ledge to ledge like she's not injured, Rex decides it will be better for his sanity if he just doesn't look. Better for his stomach, too; he's getting dizzy enough without picturing her plummeting off one of those stupid little ledges to the ground far, far below them.

Still, he looks up again in time to see her disappear into the ventilation shaft, which is partly a relief because at least she’s not jumping around on a kriffing cliff face anymore like a mesa goat. He doesn’t understand why his Jedi can’t just kriffing do things  _ carefully _ .

He grumbles to himself as he climbs up closer to the ledge, underneath, and clings tight to the wall and waits.

It’s  _ much _ harder just clinging on in stillness than it is climbing; the wind buffets against his side and back, strains his grip on the stone (which was already treacherous at best), and all his muscles are beginning to protest,  _ loudly _ , at this exercise. It’s definitely best that they only brought the most elite of his men on this mission; it’s going to be a push, start to end.

He looks up just in time to see Commander Tano poke her head over the edge of the platform and call down, “We’re clear.”

Thank goodness she’s okay and he can get  _ off this wall _ .

It’s the hardest climbing the last few feet, because he’s  _ so close _ but he can’t afford to get sloppy here. But then Fives is holding out an arm to help him up, and Rex grips his bracer, lets Fives drag him the rest of the way onto the platform. And  _ finally _ the ground beneath his feet is steady. He starts toward his Generals and Commander Tano, leaves Fives to help the last couple of his  _ vode _ .

There’s a small clatter of rock, which Rex  _ almost _ pays no mind too, except then he hears plastoid clack against stone and Fives shouts, “ _ Charger! _ ”

Rex surges forward to the very edge of the platform, just in time to see Charger hit an electromine midfall, arcing electricity turning his armor and the stone purple. Fives hurries up behind him, cursing on their helmet comms, and Rex swallows, turns around and grips his shoulder.

In the same moment, alarms start blaring, and General Kenobi twists to look at General Skywalker. “Well, they know we’re here,” he says, tightly.

Kriff.

Rex grits his teeth, heads for the doors after Commander Tano. They’re not even inside the place yet, haven’t even  _ seen _ General Piell, and he’s already lost Charger. At this rate, he can’t help but doubt there will be any of his  _ vode _ left at extraction.

~~~

Ahsoka takes a deep breath and offers Anakin a smile. “Told you I could handle myself,” she says, as brightly as she can (tries to ignore the way he glares). Master Obi-Wan snorts, at least, so she takes that as a sorta success.

They creep around a corner, following a patrol of droids, and Ahsoka attempts to walk  _ normally, _ or as normally as possible as she leads the group around another corner. She knows she’s definitely limping now, but she can’t quite seem to  _ stop-- _ her leg  _ aches _ and she’s gritting her teeth trying to keep from making a noise.

Around this second corner there’s several cameras and the corners are covered with blaster turrets. “Take out their surveillance,” Anakin orders, and Fives, and Echo drop to a knee, take aim, fire.

The cameras go down in a burst of sparks, and  _ immediately _ the turrets on the walls start firing. Rex and Cody pull out blasters and start firing, and Ahsoka snaps out her green ‘saber and starts deflecting blaster bolts back into the turrets, tries not to focus on the way Rex is firing one-two-three-four with both DC’s, leaps into the fray and starts slashing at the turrets.

Within seconds the corridor is clear, and she nods at Fives and Echo, slips out into the center of the junction and glances around, frowning. It shouldn’t be this  _ calm. _

And then a 212th clone shouts, “The walls are electrified! Go, go, go!”

They  _ sprint _ down the corridor in the direction that’s  _ away from the electricity, _ and Ahsoka stumbles, swearing, her leg  _ aching-- _ and then there’s a hand firm on her arm, helping her up and along, and she leans into Rex’s side just enough to get her feet firm beneath her and let him yank her out of the way of the electricity, into the side hallway. And for a moment she thinks they’re free, they’re  _ out, _ but then--

_ “Hotshot!” _

It’s an awful, anguished cry, and Ahsoka staggers into Rex’s side and spins, in time to see Cody reaching a hand out, desperate, to the same clone who’d first alerted them to the walls--Hotshot--as he’s caught in the web of purple energy and thrown to the durasteel floor, convulsing. Purple sparks dance over his armor and Cody whimpers, “Hotshot,” again, faint, distant, barely there, and no. No, no, no.

“We must keep moving,” Obi-Wan says, and Ahsoka wants to  _ scream. _

No. How can they? They’re losing men at an awful rate, only been here for a little while and already they’ve lost two of the most elite of both battalions. Hells, Charger’s been part of the 501st since Ahsoka was assigned to Master Anakin, and she’s sure Hotshot’s been with the 212th for at least as long.

How are any of them going to be left by the time they make it to the rendezvous?

(She is  _ not _ going to lose Rex, to lose her friends--Fives and Echo and Cody--for certain, but not Rex, they won’t take Rex from her. She’ll  _ protect him. _ Even if he doesn’t want her to.)

~~~

Rex makes sure his Commander can walk fine on her own before moving closer to Cody as they march down the corridors - still on the helmet feed, he sighs, says, “Sorry,  _ ori’vod _ .”

“ _ Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la _ ,” Cody answers, with a note of bitterness.

Rex sighs again.

Not kriffing good.

They don’t meet much resistance in the short remaining distance to cell where, reportedly, General Piell’s being held - just a few more cameras and blaster turrets to shoot, nothing complicated for three Jedi and the best of 501st and 212th. They fan out down the hall outside the cell doors, and Rex nods to Fives and Echo - they take up positions on either side of the door, raise their blasters, and Rex glances at General Skywalker. His General waves a hand, and the light above the door’s keypad goes green.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Skywalker says, Fives gives him and Echo the hand signal for  _ now _ , and Echo hits the button to open the door, the two of them twisting around the doorframe and into the cell, and there’s a brief but loud smattering of blasterfire before Rex follows them in, sees commando droids twisted and sparking, just an interrogator droid facing the Lannik Jedi hanging suspended in the middle of the cell; Rex lowers one blaster (feels Cody at his shoulder) fires and nails the droid in the middle of its head. It screams, which is always  _ much _ more satisfying than when they don’t, and he strides the rest of the way into the cell, looking around for more resistance - but true to form, Echo and Fives were very thorough, and for now they’re fine.

“Secure the entrance!” Skywalker orders, and hurries over with his saber, slices General Piell free from his restraints. Kenobi doesn’t let the small, angry-looking Jedi fall; just lifts him down to the floor. Rex hopes he’s not too injured - having another battle-ready Jedi with them would be a distinct advantage.

“Master Piell, are you alright?” Kenobi asks.

Rex edges over to stand closer to Commander Tano, because she’s wobbling on that damn leg again. He wishes she hadn’t come, this is already so  _ much _ .

“Obi-Wan,” the Jedi growls, with the voice of someone with not a lot of patience but a great deal of grit, “What took you so long?”

He can’t be that hurt, then.

Skywalker makes a face, and Rex huffs a little under his breath. “Like to see him do it better,” he says, hears Fives snort.

“At least your sense of humor is still intact,” General Skywalker says, helps General Piell stand up.

“It takes more than that to break  _ me _ , young Skywalker,” Piell says dryly.

“So you have the coordinates for the Nexus Route?”

He kriffing  _ better _ , Rex finds himself thinking. He didn’t come here to find out the General has no information after all. (Not that it was up to him, but still.)

“I got them alright,” Piell says, sounds a little offended that Skywalker even had to ask him - then he pauses. “Half of them, anyway.”

_ Haar’chak _ .

“My Captain’s got the other half. I erased the computers when we were boarded and had him memorize part of the intel. That way, if somehow I cracked, the information would be useless to them.” The small Jedi kicks dismissively at the head of the interrogator droid Rex shot.

Smart. Smart of him to do that. But a kriffing  _ nuisance _ . Rex glances over at Commander Tano, finds she’s looking his way, and she shrugs a little. Like they needed to add more to the plan, but they don’t have options.

“Where’s your Captain?” Kenobi asks.

“Mm. Being held with the other officers, I assume.” Wonderful.

“We’re gonna need a new plan for getting out,” Skywalker says, wryly. Which General Skywalker never minds that sort of thing anyway, but Rex? Rex hates it.

If it were anyone other than his General suggesting a change in plans, he’d be  _ very _ on edge. As it is, he trusts General Skywalker’s plans, for the most part, so he just shifts a little, looks over at Commander Tano again.

~~~

Rex stays right at her shoulder as they leave Master Piell’s cell behind, for which Ahsoka is grateful; her leg aches and she’s tired already, and they still have to rescue the rest of Master Piell’s troops--the one’s still alive, anyway.

Still, she walks on her own power through the corridors, behind Cody and another 212th clone, as they slip towards the cells where the clones should be being held. Around another corner, and there’s a strange  _ heaviness _ in the air; the Force feels thick, dangerous, and she rowns, swallows. She doesn’t like this.

That’s when the commando droids, dangerous ones that move sharp and fluid and too-swift around the corner, and Obi-Wan ignites his lightsaber, settles into a combat stance and waits--there’s three droids. Shouldn’t be a problem, honestly, why isn’t Cody just shooting yet--

And then three more dart swift and sure around the corner they just passed, and Ahsoka spins (grits her teeth, grabs the Force, doesn’t let the pain affect her) and ignites her own green blade, at the same time as Anakin lights his blue one. 

There’s a pause, for a moment, as the two sides observe each other, and then like they’ve been given a silent signal the commandos charge and then her men are firing and the corridor is a mess of blaster bolts and shrieking as the too-fast droids burst through the lines, slamming clones up against the walls and dodging bolts and it’s all she can do just to deflect. Much less deflect the bolts back at the droids who’d shot them.

If they’re going to get out of this one alive, it’s going to be  _ hard. _

She’s not paying enough attention, and so maybe that’s why it’s so much a surprise, when the commando droid suddenly launches itself at her, slams her back into the durasteel floor hard enough to knock the air from her lungs, her head hitting hard enough she sees stars flashing multicolored in her vision; she presses her lips together and swallows a cry of pain and moves to decapitate the thing, except--

Except its cold, clawed hands are grabbing her  _ headtails _ and slamming them together, choking her, her throat blocked, and she can’t  _ breathe, _ and no no no, she lets out a pained yelp and instinctively grabs at its arms (and for a moment there’s Dark and cold cruel and laughing along the edges of her thoughts, and she sees eyes like glowing red coals in a too-pale face, streaked with crimson like blood), because no,  _ no, _ she can’t--she won’t--she  _ please _ she doesn’t want to be here, please, please help, she can’t, it’s cold and there’s metal sharp against her neck, her throat, and she remembers hands holding her tight like she’s  _ nothing, _ like she’s a toy, something to be used against her Master, and so  _ no no no please, _ because she  _ remembers _ this, she can’t let go, if she lets go she’ll fall and then  _ he’ll _ come and she’s gone, she’s lost and alone, so so alone.

~~~

One of the commandos runs straight into Rex’s blaster as he pivots and fires, a lucky coincidence for him, not so much one for the droid, and he swears because that was  _ close _ . He hates commandos - ducks under one’s swinging arm, drives his elbow into its metal torso and shoots it - hates dealing with them and their near-unpredictable fighting.

He shoots at another, misses, and then he hears a pained cry ( _ Ahsoka _ ) and twists, taking in metal hands locked around her throat and headtails, the droid pinning her to the floor, and he  _ moves _ . Past Skywalker, who’s struggling with another droid - has to stop and shoot one that gets hold of Fives’ better blaster arm - around another  _ vod  _ in 212th orange. She hasn’t killed it, she’s not  _ moving _ hardly at all, and Rex gets in  _ close _ , sweeps out with one leg, knocks the thing off balance, off from directly on top of his Commander so he can’t make a mistake and shoot  _ her _ , fires twice into the commando’s head. Leans over, grabs the droid by a leg and one arm, and hauls it off her, drops it unceremoniously on the floor.

She still looks  _ terrified _ .

Rex crouches, puts his hand on her shoulder. “You good to go, sir?” he says, fires at a droid with his free hand.

“Yeah,” she says hoarsely. Nods.

Rex fits his arm behind her shoulders and helps her to her feet (and she struggles on her leg a little, and there are small cuts on her headtails, and he doesn’t want to let go of her to go back to the fight), waits to take his arm away until she has both her sabers up.

He stays next to her throughout what little of the fight is left, after Kenobi has sliced his saber neatly through the last of the commandos, because if she stumbles he’s not leaving it up to someone else to defend her.

“We need to keep moving,” Kenobi says, again, and Rex falls in step with his Commander, not even bothering to put his blasters away this time.

~~~

Ahsoka is  _ tired. _

This is probably one of the hardest missions she’s ever been on; Mortis was  _ tough,  _ yes, but nothing like this. Of course, she’s really not supposed to be  _ here, _ which… honestly, there’s probably a reason for that, and it’s got something to do with  _ still seriously injured. _ And also  _ Padawan. _

Both of which piss her off.

She’s managing to stay semi-steady now, at least, but she  _ really _ wishes Rex wouldn’t have let go of her, because she feels so much steadier when he’s holding onto her. Which maybe is a  _ bad _ thing, but she can’t help it--he’s  _ safety _ and  _ strength _ and that helps.

“We need to keep moving,” Obi-Wan says, and Ahsoka sighs and falls in next to Rex, who thankfully stays right beside her, though he’s still not  _ looking _ at her even, and  _ kriff _ but she wishes he’d talk to her. Say something.  _ Anything. _ She just wants to hear his voice.

They take maybe five steps down the corridor and then there’s a  _ whine _ that feels like it’s worming its way inside her head, like her montrals are about to shatter into a thousand shards of glass, and she claps her hands over her montrals instinctively, swallows a whimper of pain.

And then suddenly her sabers are flying up to the ceiling,  _ all _ their weapons are, and then--

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan shouts, and she swears, because Anakin’s mech hand is dragging him up to the ceiling, and there’s  _ more _ of those kriffing commando droids appearing out of nowhere, and  _ no, _ shit, no. This isn’t good.

And then there’s a surge of violet electricity and Anakin lets out a rough, scratchy yelp, and she stares up at him, hands still pressed to her montrals (though it’s not doing much good). “Master!”

_ “You fools!” _ echoes from the nearest surveillance camera. _ “I hope you enjoyed your reunion with your fellow Jedi, because you’re going to be my guests for a very long time!” _

~~~

There are more  _ kriffing _ commando droids, boxing them in, just four this time, and but they have them fairly well covered, and Rex shifts so he’s partly in front of Commander Tano. Kenobi and General Piell nod at each other, then quickly  _ push _ outward - but the commandos only skid back a few feet before  _ holding. _

“They’re magnetized!” Kenobi warns, helpfully, as the droids start  _ shooting _ , and redoubles his efforts. Rex’s Commander slides past him, pushes hard at the droids as well, fierce and intense and muscles taut although she isn’t actually  _ pushing _ anything, and then Fives strides in amongst the struggling droids and starts punching and Rex realizes maybe he should have been doing the same thing already. He presses forward, slams a fist into a commando’s neck joint - above them, there’s a crackle of electricity and General Skywalker yells, harsh.

Rex twists, grabs a droid that’s straining to escape Commander Tano’s Force push, and flicks his vibroblade out of his gauntlet to stab the clanker through its faceplate. It sputters, doesn’t  _ quite _ deactivate, so he drags the blade up with a screech of metal until it shuts off, magnetic feet suddenly detaching from the floor. The droid flies backward under the Force of his Commander’s push, and Rex moves on to the next just as the sounds of electricity and the awful  _ shrieking _ sound cut off - and their blasters fall back to the ground, and the Jedi’s sabers. Kenobi and Commander Tano both catch theirs, and Rex has never been so relieved to hear the sound of a saber igniting in his  _ life _ .

The remaining droids are dispatched in seconds, and Echo goes to help General Skywalker (who had fallen to the floor and lain there prone for a moment, not good). “Are you alright, sir?” his  _ vod’ika _ says.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Skywalker says, breathless.

He takes off running down the corridor, Rex’s  _ vode _ and Commander Tano following him, and Rex slows, checks behind them one more time, and then twists to look up at the surveillance camera. Damn this place, damn the fact they can see  _ everything _ . He sneers behind his helmet, takes deliberate aim, and shoots out the camera.

~~~

Click hunches over his stomach and tries not to look  _ cowed, _ or afraid.

Yes, so he’s _just_ a technician; yeah, he doesn’t have armor on (but neither do his brothers now). But he’s still a _clone_ _soldier_ of the 431st battalion (no matter that the battalion is… almost gone, now), and he is _not_ afraid. He _won’t_ be. 

He refuses to look at Captain Tarkin--he isn’t sure  _ why _ his battalion had to get stuck with one of the few GAR officers who  _ isn’t _ a clone, but he doesn’t  _ like it. _ General Piell never should’ve given the half of the coordinates to Tarkin. The karking asshole Captain doesn’t even trust the Jedi! And the only reason he’s a kriffing  _ Captain _ is because he’s not  _ vode. _ He’s not a brother, so he gets to have a damn rank.

There are a lot of things about that that Click doesn’t like.

But right now, Tarkin is the only hope they have of escape. Click isn’t a fool, he  _ knows  _ the Republic would gladly abandon them to the Citadel, if General Piell had all the intel. So the fact that Tarkin has it is  _ good, _ that means the Jedi rescue team (if there is one) will come for them. Hopefully. Because at least they know the intel will be useless without Tarkin.

Karkin’ Tarkin.

Heh, Click likes that. He just might have to use that more often. Not  _ out loud, _ of course not, he’s not kriffing  _ jare’la, _ but… he’ll have to tell Alpha and Beta about that one.

Speaking of Alpha and Beta…

Click looks over at his fellow _vode,_ frowns a bit. Both of them are in blacks only, crumpled over--Alpha is worse. Alpha, he thinks, got hit pretty bad in the side, and of _course_ the droids--and Commander Sobec, that miserable, _duraa’la,_ rat-faced, bastard _shabuir--_ had to have their _fun_ with their prisoners, with their _new clone toys,_ and Click _burns_ at the memory of electrostaffs jammed into Alpha’s burnt, bloody side, remembers the sound of his _vode_ _screaming_ in agony (Alpha from the pain, Beta because _his ori’vod)._ At least both he and Beta only got minimal shock treatment, same with Lieutenant Hang-up--and of-kriffing-course Tarkin didn’t get any at all. Why would he? He’s a damn _human,_ of course he wouldn’t. And besides, it’s not like they expect him to have the intel.

“I hear something,” one of the commandos says, suddenly, slinks up to the door, and Click tries not to swear.  _ Great. _ Just what they need. 

Alpha whimpers faintly, hunches over himself more, and Beta hisses protectively, puts a hand on Alpha’s shoulder, wraps one arm around his  _ ori’vod’s _ chest and pulls him close. Click swallows, looks away from the brothers, finds Hang-up’s eyes. The two of them silently, without discussion, move to cover their  _ vod’ike-- _

And then there’s the distinctive  _ hum _ of a lightsaber, and a glowing blue blade stabs through the door to the cell, into and  _ through _ the commando’s head.

Half a second later, the door hisses open and a young Togrutan Jedi swings through, slams her feet into the remaining commando’s head, knocking it  _ hard _ to the floor, and lands on top of it, pulling out a short yellow ‘saber and stabbing it home into its head. She climbs almost immediately back to her feet, but she’s limping, and Click frowns. Pushes himself slowly to his feet, helps Hang-up and Beta stand as well, lets Alpha stay down. Ignores Karkin’ Tarkin. The damn Captain can stand up by himself. He’s not injured at all.

~~~

Cody goes over to the clone officer (Rex thinks his  _ vod _ knows him); Rex himself is more concerned about the three regular troopers, especially the one that’s folded over himself, pressing his fingers against his side. He thinks the technician looks the most steady, so he nods to him, says, “What’s your name, trooper?”

“Click, sir,” answers the technician, and he looks to be about to try to come to some kind of attention, so Rex waves his hand like  _ stand down _ .

“I’m Captain Rex,” he says, glancing over at the other two  _ vode _ . His Commander limps up next to him ( _ haar’chak _ ), and he nods towards her, “and this is Commander Tano. What about you two, what are your names?”

“I’m Beta,” says the one who’s actually on his feet. He sounds worried. “This is Alpha.”

Alpha doesn’t look good, and Rex wishes Kix were here, but that can’t be helped. Risking their senior medic on a mission like this would have been unwise. “Can you all walk? You shouldn’t have to fight- but I need you to be able to move.”

Beta looks at Alpha, says, “I don’t think-” right as Alpha says, “Yes,” with a strained note to his voice.

Cody speaks on his helmet feed, says, “I’m getting them out, we’ll guard them, but we have to be moving.”

“Copy that.” Rex switches his helmet feed off, nods to Beta. “I’m sorry, but you need to move. We don’t have a lot of options here.” Alpha tries to struggle to his feet by himself, and Rex grimaces, but Beta grabs Alpha’s arm and supports him.

Good.

“Click,” Rex says, quickly touching his  _ vod’s _ shoulder (and  _ little gods _ he wishes they had armor, or blasters, or something; as it is this is going to be a huge risk), “Go with Commander Cody and your officer, we’ll be out shortly.” Because the  _ Captain _ (GAR high brass, apparently, the sort that joined up and immediately got handed a rank and a squad and the authority to send men to die with impunity) is talking to his Generals, chin up, haughty and self-important somehow even though he’s just been rescued from a prison cell.

He strides over to them, slightly behind the Captain, and his Commander limps after him; he needs to either give her more support or find a way to keep her off that leg so much. Damn it all.

_ Your fault _ .

_ Not now. _

“Please tell me you have a plan as to how to get us out of here?” the Captain is saying, and  _ gods _ , Rex doesn’t even like his ridiculous voice.

But of course, it doesn’t matter what he thinks of the GAR officers as long as everything works like it’s supposed to and he does what he needs to and the Captain does what  _ he _ should. He settles his arms behind his back in casual parade rest, sighs.

He can tell his Commander is… less patient with the Captain, and for that matter, so are his Generals. Skywalker in particular.

“We do, actually,” General Skywalker says, a little huffily. “A little thanks would be nice, Captain Tarkin.”

Damn straight. Rex lost two  _ vode _ trying to get this-  _ di’kut _ out of here. Not that  _ Captain Tarkin _ will probably care. Most non-clone officers don’t.

~~~

Ahsoka tilts her head to one side, observing Captain Tarkin. He’s, from what she can tell, stuffy, uptight, and utterly  _ unconcerned _ about the lives of his clones. No  _ good _ Captain would ever be so… so  _ stupid, _ so wasteful.

She doesn’t like him.

Likes him even less when he doesn’t even bother to  _ thank _ her Master for the help.

“We should split up,” Obi-Wan says, and Ahsoka agrees, though her leg is sore and she’s beginning to wish she hadn’t come along after all.

_ Captain _ Tarkin frowns, haughty. “Shouldn’t we stick together? There is strength in numbers, after all.”

“Sounds like Separatist mentality,” Ahsoka mutters under her breath, and Rex snorts.

“A stronger force would have a better chance of protecting the information,” Tarkin tries, and Obi-Wan just shakes his head.

“Not in this situation.”

“Obi-Wan has a point,” Master Piell says, casually. “I’ll go with him. You go with Skywalker.”

“I’ll take what’s left of my men and set a diversion,” Obi-Wan says. “Anakin, you take the 501st and the injured out through the tunnels--it should be safer that way.”

“Got it,” Anakin says. “I’ll have Artoo take the shuttle to pick you up at the landing pad, then come back and get us off the fuel line.”

“Sounds like a plan. Do  _ try _ to be on time,” Obi-Wan says, and then he’s off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Mando'a translations:**
> 
>  
> 
>  _kaysh gaan:_ her hand
> 
>  _su'rar:_ focus


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> expect things to go much more canon-divergent from here on out--or, at least, following much less closely to the episode's script. we'd love to hear back from you!

Rex is not particularly  _ fond _ of tunnels, so he is also not particularly  _ thrilled _ when they set out to find an entrance to a set of tunnels to try to get all of them plus four injured (five if he counts Commander Tano) out and to the rendezvous without incident.

As it turns out, however, the tunnels are not  _ tunnels _ in the sense he’d imagined - they’re more massive, arching caverns, lit gold-red with lava, all stone and paths that he doesn’t quite understand. Commander Tano almost immediately tries to push past him, to scout ahead, presumably, and he catches her arm, around her bicep. “For kriff’s sake, sir,” he says, tightly. “Slow down. Let someone else do it,” and waves Aiden, one of his two remaining troopers, forward to have a look.

She looks up at him, suddenly looks very vulnerable, and shifts her weight onto her good leg, leans into his hand, and he lets go, shivers, drops into parade rest.

She just scoots over closer to him and leans into his side, not with all her weight, probably just enough to rest her injured leg. And he knows she needs the support, it’s just- she’s right  _ here _ again and he’s been trying to  _ avoid _ this. But of course he can’t pull away, she needs him, so he just stays still.

Fives whistles, on comms, and Rex scowls. “Have I missed something, sir?”

Rex sighs, goes on the channel, says shortly, “No,” and switches it back off.

Aiden comes running back up to them, nods to General Skywalker. “All clear as far as I can see, sir,” he says.

“Good.” General Skywalker starts down the path, and Rex hesitates to start after him.

“Are  _ you  _ going to be able to walk?” he asks his Commander, quietly. He’ll keep supporting her, if she needs it.

~~~

Ahsoka swallows, nods. “Yeah, I--I think so, Rex. Yeah. I’ll--I’ll be alright.”

Her leg  _ aches _ and she tries not to think about that, shifts her weight and pushes off him. Even though she doesn’t  _ want _ to. “I’m sorry, Commander,” he says, softly, and she manages a tentative smile at him.

“It’s alright, Rexter,” she tells him, puts a hand on his pauldron for just a moment. “It’s not your fault. I--I probably should’ve listened to Kix.”

She thinks this is the first time she’s ever said that.

They start walking single file through the tunnels, except for Alpha and Beta, who’re limping along together, Beta half-carrying the other clone; Rex stays right behind her, close enough to catch her if she falls. She wishes she could tell him how much she appreciates it.

“Artoo, are your droids ready to go?” Anakin’s saying into his wristcomm; there’s a flurry of binary, and then he nods. “Alright, well, meet us at the pipeline exit after you’ve picked up Obi-Wan. Assuming he’s still on schedule.”

Ahsoka snorts. “You know, we’re the ones likely to be late, Master,” she says.

Anakin frowns. “How so?”

She shrugs. “Well, I mean, we’ve got injured. And also you’re  _ always _ late.”

“I am not!” He looks downright  _ offended. _ “I am  _ never _ late, Snips.”

Tarkin doesn’t look very pleased by that. “Can we please stay focused?” he asks.

Ahsoka rolls her eyes. Drops back to walk among the clones, because she’s tired and no one’s watching their flank and Tarkin’s an asshat she doesn’t want to deal with right now. She’s just in time to hear the technician, Click, mutter, “Karkin’ Tarkin back at it again,” under his breath.

Even Alpha, as obviously in-pain as he is, laughs at that one. “You think you’re funny, Click,” he wheezes, leans a little more into Beta’s side.

“Nah,  _ vod’ika,” _ Click says, easily, casually. “I  _ know _ I’m  _ hilarious.” _

“That’s my line,” Fives complains.

Ahsoka frowns, nudges Echo. “What’s  _ vod’ika _ mean?”

“Little brother,” the ARC-lieutenant tells her, and she thinks he’s probably smiling under his helmet.

She grins. “That’s sweet!” It really is. She hadn’t expected the  _ clones _ of all people to have… terms of endearment, almost, for each other. But of  _ course _ it’d be  _ little brother, _ with the way they all call each other  _ brother _ or  _ vod _ all the time. A family, even if they don’t wear the same colored paint on their armor. A part of her is curious what that’s  _ like. _

She lets herself consider that for a while, because it gives her something to focus on, besides the now-throbbing pain of her leg that  _ will not subside, _ even when she tries to put less weight on it than before, and she grits her teeth and tries to plow on through. It  _ hurts, _ damn it, she’ll probably be half-useless in a fight. Just what she kriffing needs. Anakin will  _ never _ let her on another mission, will never trust her again. She’s here now, she needs to be useful. Having a leg she can’t bear weight on is the  _ opposite _ of useful.

So she clenches her jaw and swallows down the occasional quiet, pained noise, tries to  _ breathe. _

~~~

Rex keeps one eye on his Commander and one on his  _ vode _ as they walk, keeping his footsteps measured and steady. Fives is making snarky comments about Tarkin and the mission on comms every now and then, since it’s a clone-only channel, and Rex has to stifle several snorts of laughter.

Tarkin is talking very familiarly with his General, which Rex doesn't really appreciate. He wishes Tarkin (walking with only a small hitch in his step, up at the front) would just be quiet and let them rescue him without all the commentary.

“I karking hate officers like him,” Fives says quietly, close to him, and Rex realizes he's not on the helmet feed, just talking.

“ _ K’uur, vod _ ,” he says, sharply. “ _ Cui ogir’olar. _ ” Commander Tano drifts closer to him, curiously - she seems to be fascinated by he and his  _ vode _ speaking Mando’a, possibly simply because she doesn't understand it.

Tarkin glances back at him with a small sneer; non-clone officers  _ hate _ them using Mando’a because they're afraid they're the ones being talked about. In this case, that's true, although thankfully Tarkin doesn't know that.

“It does matter,” Fives says, and Rex snorts and shakes his head.

“ _ Ne’johaa, _ ” he says, tense. “Just stay on the helmet feed if you're going to talk like that, Fives.”

His Commander edges closer to him as Fives falls back to protect their injured  _ vode _ again, and Rex sighs softly in his helmet, tries to avoid looking at her too much.

_ She's soft and small and strong in his arms, curled up where no one can reach her and for a moment she's only his. _

Gods take it.

“What did all that mean?” she asks, quietly, and although she looks pained, she also looks like someone dying to get in on a good joke.

“I was telling Fives to shut up,” Rex says, “He doesn't know how to watch his mouth.”

Or rather, he does, but he chooses not to.

“Oh,” she says, with a small smile. She's quiet for a little bit, then she says, “Is it hard to learn Mando’a?”

Rex tenses. “I don't know,” he says.

“Could… Could you maybe teach me someday?”

“No.” Rex is  _ firm _ , too fast- teaching her to speak his language, the one that's  _ his _ , and his brothers’, would be too much, she would- he wouldn't be able to- No. Besides, the  _ vode _ don't like their officers knowing Mando’a. “No, sir, I don't think- I'm not a good teacher.”

“Oh,” she says, sounds small.  _ Haar’chak _ .

_ Just go away, Commander, please, just make this easier for everyone. _

He glances back at Alpha, changes the subject. “They're not in good shape. Do you know any of that Force healing stuff?”

~~~

Ahsoka tries not to be  _ hurt _ by the fact that Rex doesn’t want her to learn Mando’a (but she remembers  _ cyar’ika _ and thinks maybe he just doesn’t want her to know what that means), tries to focus on the important thing. Force healing. “I’m… not very good at it,” she says, tense, “but I’m better than Master Anakin is. Master Obi-Wan is  _ really _ good at Force healing, he tried to teach me some.”

“Could you do any for Alpha, at least?” Rex asks, sounds  _ worried, _ and she frowns, considers.

“Maybe… not while we’re walking, though, I can’t focus well enough. My leg--” and she shakes her head, cuts herself off. He doesn’t need to  _ know _ the reason she can’t focus very well is that her leg  _ hurts. _ He doesn’t. She needs to prove she’s supposed to be here, she’s useful, that means not complaining about her leg or anything like that.

Rex nods, and then suddenly walks faster, moving up through the clones to walk near Anakin. “General,” he says, “can we let them rest for a few minutes, sir?” He lowers his voice, and she can’t make out what he’s saying, but whatever it is, Anakin sighs and nods, lifts his fist.

“Five minutes,” he says wearily. “Rest while you can, boys and Snips, we’ve still got a long push ahead of us.”

Rex makes his way back towards her, and she gives him a suspicious look. “I’m fine, Rex, I don’t need a break.”

“Alpha does,” he says, casually. “Can you take a look?”

She nods. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to help him any.”

“It’s better than nothing, sir,” says Beta, who’s already dropping down to sit on the rocky ground, cradling Alpha’s head in his lap. “He got shot pretty bad, and then those  _ osik’la  _ interrogater droids decided it’d be  _ fun _ to stab an electrostaff into the injury.”

_ “Ne’johaa, ori’vod, ni jate,” _ Alpha rasps weakly.

Beta closes his eyes, takes a sharp breath. “No,  _ you _ shut up, damn it, let the Commander look at you.”

~~~

Commander Tano crouches down next to Alpha, and Rex lets out a quiet sigh of relief because she's off her leg for now, at least. Besides that, Alpha  _ genuinely _ needs support.

Rex eases over to stand behind her, keeps an eye out around them for droids. His Commander settles her hands over Alpha’s injury, careful, and bites her lip in concentration. Rex thinks Alpha looks… surprised, that she's sitting there doing this.

“I'm not gonna be able to do much,” Commander Tano says, almost guiltily.

“It'll help,” Rex tells Alpha, firmly, half means it for his Commander too.

He  _ means _ to be watching the terrain better, but his  _ vode _ are doing that, and General Skywalker, so he mostly ends up looking at Commander Tano, the look of intense concentration on her face as she holds her hands over the wound. Force healing feels  _ strange _ , from Rex’s one experience with it in the past, and Alpha’s hands clench in and out of fists.

Then Commander Tano leans back with a heavy sigh. “There. I'm sorry, that's- all I can do.” She starts to stand, and Rex puts a hand on her shoulder and won't let her. She needs to rest while they have time.

“Sir?” Click, the technician, is fidgeting a little, looks confused. “All due respect - and not that we aren't grateful, sir - but why did you do that for him? We're just clones, we can take it.”

“ _ Just _ clones?” Commander Tano says.

Click shrugs.

“So what if you can take it? You shouldn't have to. You're our men, and if we can do this little thing for you, of course we will. It's still not enough to… to repay you for dying for us.”

_ Gods. _ Rex shifts a little, looks down, tries not to fidget uncomfortably. Such blatant acknowledgement of them from Commander Tano is always- It's refreshing. And it makes him- His chest aches, a little.

“Sir,” Fives says, on the helmet feed, “Every time she says shit like that,  _ I _ wanna kiss her and I'm not even the one that's in love with her.”

Rex scowls, switches to the same channel. “I'm not either, Fives, for kriff’s sake.”

“You  _ do _ wanna kiss her, though?”

“ _ Not what I said _ .”

“Oh, he really does,” Echo says gleefully.

Rex turns off comms and marches over to stand by General Skywalker, grumbling to himself. He  _ does not _ want to kiss Commander Tano, and he's  _ not _ in love with her, and Fives needs to keep his  _ damn _ mouth shut.

~~~

It seems like only seconds have passed before Anakin calls the end of the break, and Ahsoka struggles to push herself to her feet. She probably shouldn’t have used so much Force healing, because now she’s kriffing  _ exhausted, _ but this ordeal is almost over. They just have to make it to the top of the pipe. And then she can curl up in the back of the shuttle and maybe even take some pain meds, if anyone has any that the clones don’t need, and she can  _ sleep _ and forget how much she  _ hurts. _

Standing up is not fun.

It is, in fact, the very  _ opposite _ of fun.

Her leg feels like something’s burning inside it, and she’s pretty sure she can  _ feel _ things shifting and grinding around in there that shouldn’t be, which is not a very good sign, she thinks. She tries to put as much of her weight as she can on the rock wall, but also she doesn’t want to  _ limp, _ she doesn’t want to look like she shouldn’t be here (she shouldn’t be). They’re almost out now, they don’t have much left to go, just through the tunnels and the pipe and out, and if they’re lucky no droids are after them, so she probably won’t even have to run. Or fight. Maybe fight, but still.

She can do this.

“You alright, Commander?” It’s Fives, and he sounds worried, even through his helmet.

“Yeah, Fives,” she says, offers him a strained smile. “I’m great.”

“You’re limping,” he says.

She makes a face, adjusts herself, grabs the Force and tries to let it bleed away some of the pain, though she’s not so successful. Makes herself put full weight on her leg and swallows the whimper that threatens to slip out, because  _ ow, kriff _ that really really really hurts. There’s  _ definitely _ something wrong in her leg. Has she reinjured it?  _ Shit, _ Kix will  _ murder _ her for that. “I’m fine, Fives.”

~~~

“Captain,” Fives isn’t teasing anymore, which is the main reason Rex actually turns his helmet channel back on and answers.

“Yeah,  _ vod? _ ”

“Your Commander isn’t doing good, sir. I don’t think she should be walking by herself.”

_ Haar’chak _ .

Rex leaves his General with Captain Tarkin again (certainly doesn’t mind having an excuse to stop listening to Tarkin suggesting they  _ move faster _ as if they don’t  _ know that _ ) and hurries back to his Jedi, who is trying to walk  _ normally _ on her  _ karking _ injured leg. “Commander,” he says, just barely manages not to be sharp, “All due respect, but what the  _ kriff _ do you think you’re doing?”

“Walking?” she says, archly, like she thinks he’s an  _ idiot _ . “What are  _ you _ doing, Rex?”

He scowls at her, although of course she can’t see his face so she’s not going to be able to realize the full depth of his  _ frustration _ with her, for kriff’s sake. “You’re not walking on that leg like that anymore,” he says, sternly. Kix isn’t here to scold her, so it’s up to Rex. “Here, lean on me.” And he fits his arm under her shoulders without waiting for her response, which, when it comes, is of course  _ stubborn _ and kriffing  _ stupid _ .

“No, I’m fine. I don’t need help,” she says, trying to shrug off his arm and step away.

His Commander is stubborn, but Rex is  _ more so _ , so he doesn’t let her, just tugs her closer to him. “Yes, you do, sir, kriffing  _ udesii _ \- take it easy. I’m the one who got you injured, might as well let me help.” He debates for just a second, then, “I’d feel easier about it, sir.”

His Commander sighs, but she lets more of her weight rest on his arm, which is good. Never mind that suddenly she’s right  _ here _ again and he was trying to  _ avoid _ this - it’s strictly for her own sake, to help her, and right now he hardly needs to be avoiding her. She needs his help.

“It wasn’t your fault, Rex,” she says, predictably.

“All the same, sir,” he answers, props her up a little more carefully.

~~~

Ahsoka lets herself lean a bit more into Rex’s side, because her leg really  _ does _ hurt, and she probably shouldn’t be walking on it, but she doesn’t want Anakin to think she’s not--that she doesn’t belong here. “I’ll be fine, Rex, really,” she says, but it’s a halfhearted protest and she knows he knows it. She’s  _ tired _ already and it hurts and… and he’s here. And he said it’d make him feel better, so… (And if she lets herself be closer to him than is strictly  _ necessary, _ if there’s a part of her reveling in the fact that he’s  _ here, _ he’s got an arm around her, well… she tries not to think about it, pushes it out of her head, because she doesn’t want to be a burden.)

“Well,” he says, “we’d just like to be extra sure of that.”

Kriffing fine. She knows when to make a tactical retreat, anyway.

There’s the sudden sound of a lightsaber igniting behind her, and she spins (Rex turns too, at the same time, and he just--casually tugs her a bit more into his side and pulls her with him) to see Anakin twirling his saber and hooking it to his belt, the glowing-hot halves of a probe droid falling discarded to the ground. “I have to cover our flank,” he says, frowns. “Which one of you is the least injured?”

Ahsoka tries to say something, but Rex makes a disapproving noise and she falls silent, and it’s Click who speaks up instead. “Probably me, sir. Hang-up’s not bad, but he’s been helping Beta with Alpha.”

“Right. Click, yes?” Click nods, and Anakin gestures at Rex. “Rex has a bag of explosives. When we hit the wall, I need you to blow it. The pipeline is beyond there.”

Click snaps to attention, sharp even though he’s a bit wavering, and salutes. “Yes, sir!”

“We’ve got to hurry,” Anakin continues, nudges the probe with his toe. “If this guy’s caught up to us, the rest of the army isn’t far behind.”

Kriff.

“We’d be able to go faster if I was walking by myself,” she says, gives Rex a  _ look. _

~~~

Rex deliberately ignores her, just nods at his General in understanding as he slides his pack off his back and tosses it to Click. “All the explosives are in there,” he says. “Just try not to throw any of my supplies out with them.”

Click nods, saluting, and hefts the pack onto his pack. Rex doesn’t think Click is a  _ shiny _ , by any means, but these  _ vode _ are not as comfortable as his brothers in the 501st. Having General Skywalker as their commanding officer has its advantages.

“You don’t have to salute all the time,” Commander Tano says, wryly amused.

Click blinks, looks  _ affronted _ , casts Rex a look almost like  _ help _ . Rex snorts softly, hears Echo, on comms, say, “Poor  _ vod _ .”

“She’s right,” Rex says casually. “We’re in the middle of a mission, Click, no one expects you to salute every time you get an order. Just do your job.”

“Yes, sir,” Click says. Rex sees his hand twitch, knows he wants to salute again.

“Come on,  _ vod _ , we don’t have all day,” he says, amused, takes even more of Commander Tano’s weight. She grumbles, clearly doesn’t want to let him - well, that’s too kriffing bad. Their little squad is picking up the pace, helped by the healing Commander Tano was able to do for Alpha and the fact that they know that droids could catch up to them anytime. Rex is able to help his Commander move faster, despite the fact that she claimed she could move faster if she wasn’t leaning on him.

He wishes he could ignore the fact that she’s so close to his side, but it’s  _ hard _ . At least Cody isn’t here - Cody would be frustrated with him. Possibly rightly so, Rex doesn’t know - he’s trying his best.

Tarkin keeps looking back at them, and at one point, Rex hears him say to General Skywalker, “Should Commander Tano have been allowed on this mission? She’s slowing us down.” Rex does  _ not _ like how Tarkin says “Commander Tano” like she doesn’t deserve the rank. Then he sees Tarkin’s eyes flick to Alpha, suddenly thinks the captain might suggest leaving Alpha behind. “With so many injured, I don’t know how you expect us to keep out of their reach for long.”

Rex doesn’t mean to, but he pulls Ahsoka tighter to him, scowls. He knows General Skywalker’s hardly going to leave anyone behind, but even still.

~~~

When she hears Tarkin talking about her, Ahsoka tenses, tries not to react so much. But--even karking  _ Captain Tarkin _ can tell she’s not supposed to be here, that she shouldn’t be here, that she’s a burden, that she’s just slowing everyone down (except she’s not sure how they would’ve gotten into the Citadel without her along, but still).

She shouldn’t  _ be here. _ She’s messed this all up, she’s injured and they have too many injured and--

The whole train of thought comes grinding to a halt when Rex, quite suddenly, pulls her  _ closer to him. _ Not in a  _ taking more weight _ way, but almost like he’s being--protective. And  _ kriff, _ but she shouldn’t be thinking about that, because if he  _ is _ being protective it’s only in a--an older brother way. Obviously. 

But he’s  _ close _ and he has hardly been speaking to her and--and she thinks this is the closest he’s been since Mortis, and she shouldn’t be fixating on that but she can’t help it.

She’s  _ missed him. _ So much.

They round a corner and hit a wall, a dead end, and Click hurries forward, starts studding it with explosives. None too soon, because then there’s B2 droids advancing, and Rex  _ swears _ at her but Ahsoka jerks her green ‘saber to her hand and slips away from him, lunging forward to cut through them. Even though that means putting much more weight on her leg.  _ Too _ much, it hurts, but she doesn’t  _ care. _

“Commander!” Fives says sharply, but she ignores him. Slices the B2s in half with Anakin’s help and then falls back, because there’s more of the damn  _ commandos _ (five of them) coming at them except--

Except this time they’ve got shields.

Kriff.

“Fall  _ back!” _ Ahsoka shouts, swears briefly when she stumbles and Rex suddenly is grabbing her with one arm, tugging her against his side while he fires neat and precise with one blaster. “Rex, the  _ kriff, _ let go!”

“You do your job and keep me from getting shot, Ahsoka, and I’ll do mine,” he says calmly, backs another step. “Click! Get that wall down!”

“On it, sir!” There’s a pause and then an explosion, and then two more grenades roll past the commandos shields and blow.

The ground  _ rocks _ and Ahsoka extinguishes her ‘saber blade, hooks it to her belt so she can grab onto Rex with both arms (to steady herself, of course), and there’s debris falling and the air is choked with dust and rock, but at least the way is clear, now.

Mostly.

There’s still chunks of rock, and Rex apparently decides she shouldn’t be climbing them, because he takes to just simply lifting her over them and setting her back down, keeping her leaned enough against him that she’s putting barely any weight on her injured leg. Which is  _ bantha shit. _ She’s  _ fine. _ She tells him that, firmly.

Rex doesn’t even respond.

Kriff him.

~~~

Ahsoka is  _ annoyed _ , which is simply  _ too bad _ . Rex is sick of her trying to put weight on her bad leg, sick of her being  _ stubborn _ . He's grateful she's  _ letting _ him muscle her around - in theory, if she really decided she wanted to be a  _ di’kut _ and do this by herself, she could push him away and walk on her own. But she hasn't, and he can see her flinching whenever she puts weight on that leg.

There’s a long pipe leading up the stone until he can’t see it anymore, which apparently leans into an abandoned fuel line that they’ll use to get out to the surface. General Skywalker holds up a hand for them to halt at the entrance to the pipeline, which Rex can see has ladder rungs on the inside - hardly an ideal method of ascent, but better than freeclimbing on a windy cliff face.

“Everyone lock your blasters,” his General says shortly, “and leave off your lights - any electrical pulse could send this whole place up in smoke.”

Abandoned fuel line. Right.

General Skywalker jumps up, catches himself on the ladder, and shimmies up into the pipe. Of course Captain Tarkin goes next, much more clumsily, and then Echo, and then Rex feels Ahsoka pull away from him like she’s going to climb all the way up on her own. Which he realizes is  _ not _ an option. It’s a long climb and she’s already struggling and if they have to fight again- so he wraps a hand around her bicep, tugs her to a halt.

“Commander,” he says, a little apologetically. “I think I better carry you.”

“Rex, stop being protective,” she snaps. “I’ll be fine.”

He can’t  _ believe her _ . “Sir, you’re  _ kidding _ .” Lieutenant Hang-up passes them and slowly hefts himself into the pipe, and Rex rubs the back of his neck below his helmet. “You can’t make that whole climb, not if you ever want to walk right again.” And if she doesn’t want Kix to murder him, which since she- Well, he knows she doesn’t want that.

~~~

“Fine,” Ahsoka says, tiredly, closes her eyes and nods. “How are you going to carry me and still climb, Rex?”

“I’ll carry you on my back, sir,” he says, sounds apologetic at least, and she sighs.

“That is  _ so undignified, _ Rexter,” she complains.

He doesn’t care. “Come on, Commander.”

She watches as Alpha climbs onto Beta’s back, looking extremely uncomfortable, and Beta ducks through the hatch and starts climbing, slow and careful not to dislodge his  _ vod, _ and she sighs again, says, “Fine.”

Rex crouches down a bit, and she sighs and wraps her arms around his neck, careful not to hold too tightly, and then she jumps (mostly off her good leg, trying to at least be  _ semi _ careful about it) and wraps her legs around his waist. He shifts a bit as she presses carefully closer to his back (tries not to think about how  _ close _ she is to him, though she can’t help wishing he didn’t have his armor on) and rests her chin on his shoulder, tilting her head so she’s leaning against his bucket. “Ready, sir?” he asks, and maybe it’s just her imagination but his voice sounds almost  _ gruffer _ than usual beneath his bucket.

“As I’ll ever be,” she says with a sigh, and he nods and strides forward into the pipe.

The space is almost  _ claustrophobic, _ nearly too tight for the both of them--luckily, Ahsoka’s small and so she fits--and she tightens her arms and legs just a bit around him, takes a careful breath. She doesn’t  _ like _ small, enclosed spaces like this, never has. At least they aren’t  _ cages, _ but they remind her all-too-much of a vague drift of a memory she can never really recall, about being small and so, so scared.

She shivers a bit, closes her eyes and hides her face in Rex’s pauldron, swallows hard and tries not to  _ think. _ This isn’t a cage, she’s fine, she’s safe, Rex is here and… and the walls feel like they’re closing in around her, trapping her (vague laughter, shouting,  _ how much d’you think this whelp’s worth?) _ and she shudders.

“Are you okay, sir?”

“Yeah,” she tries to say, but her throat’s closed up and the word comes out raspy and choked, and she takes a careful breath (release it to the Force, but she’s never been very good at that). “Y-yeah, I’m fine, ‘s just… not a lot of space.”

~~~

She’s not fine - Rex isn’t an idiot, and he knows her. He grunts, presses himself closer to the ladder to give her at least a little more space, and pushes himself to climb a little faster. “I don’t like tight spaces either,” he says gruffly. “Make me feel trapped.” And being trapped means he can’t fight, means dying.

There’s a moment of quiet, then Ahsoka’s arms tighten around his shoulders and neck (which he doesn’t really like, but it’s okay, it’s just her) and she says, “When I was three, I was almost sold. They kept me in a cage that was- was too small for me.” She shudders hard enough he can feel it through his armor. “I didn’t fit. It hurt my arms. Then Master Plo came and got me out.”

Rex doesn’t really know anything about Ahsoka from before he met her - because they are Captain and Commander, those are not things they need to discuss. He swallows, sighs. “That makes sense, then,” he says. “Sorry, Commander.”

“Please don’t,” she says, shaky.

“Sir?”

“Don’t call me that right now. Please.”

_ Little gods _ . Rex grits his teeth, looks up for some sign of open space, but sees nothing yet but Beta’s feet. “Okay.” He goes silent, focusing on climbing and the metal rungs under his feet and hands, and tries to ignore how she’s hanging on  _ so tight _ (it’s claustrophobic but also it’s  _ her _ and he thinks she might be part koala, with how often she-).

“Can you…” Ahsoka stops, and Rex wishes she would just- he doesn’t know. “Can you just talk? I think it would help it not feel so small if you talked.”

Rex makes a toneless noise, sighs. “About what?”

“Anything.”

Rex does not  _ want _ to do that. “Sir, I don’t think- I’m sorry, I don’t know what to talk  _ about _ .”

“Tell me a story?” Her arms loosen around his neck a little, which helps.

He doesn’t know how to do this, he doesn’t want to talk about anything or think about anything, but she’s  _ scared _ and he has to admit to being a little nervous too (between the height and the tightness of the space). So he searches for something to tell her that isn’t too much - and finds that most of his stories are about fighting, about losing people.

(There’s the time he met Cut - but he can’t tell that here where Captain Tarkin can hear, and it’s too private of a memory, almost.)

“When I was a cadet,” he says, a little strained with effort, “Jango Fett was still involved in training. My batch was one of the older ones - we learned Mando’a from him. And how to use jetpacks.” He reaches up with a small grumbling sound. “Which I don’t like, by the way, jetpacks. Kriffing hells.”  _ Stay focused, Rex, for kriff’s sake _ . She giggles a little though, which he supposes is better than her being scared. “Jango was a good teacher. Better than some of the current trainers, I think.” He’s heard some less than complementary stories. But that’s besides the point. “But he didn’t really have a sense of humor. I had this batchmate, ‘34, biggest kriffing joker in our batch, liked pranking people. Didn’t know when to stop.” Got him reconditioned eventually. ‘34 never got a name, and Rex never saw him again. “One day he decided to kriff with Jango, so he messed around with his jetpack. It was one of the worst ideas he ever had; he made it so it worked for a bit, but Jango was in the air and it just, stopped working. It wasn’t funny until ‘34 swept in with his own jetpack, caught him, smug as a loth-cat. Jango was kriffing  _ pissed _ . He lectured ‘34 for fifteen standard minutes.”

“Was it worth it?” Ahsoka says, amused.

“He said it was,” Rex snorts. It had been pretty funny. “Jango swore more than I’d ever heard him; ‘34 scared the hells out of him.”

“What’s ‘34’s name?” she asks, lightly, and Rex swallows, climbs a little faster.

“We never named ‘34, and if he ever got a name, I don’t know what it was; he was reconditioned.”

“Reconditioned?” she says. “What’s that?”

_ Little gods _ . He can’t answer that question.

Captain Tarkin, it seems, can; his voice echoes down the pipe, dismissive. “When a clone performs poorly, or does not conform to the standards and ideals of the GAR, they are given a fresh start - a reset, if you will. Their memories are wiped and they are reassigned, given a new battalion and a new chance.”

Rex grits his teeth and closes his eyes, climbs in stillness for a few seconds. On his helmet feed, Fives says, “Lucky us.”

Reconditioning is losing yourself - it might as well be dying, except Rex thinks it’s worse.

It’s a sharp reminder of why he  _ can’t have _ \- why he has to remember what he is.

~~~

Rex’s voice is a comfort, soft and warm even through the vocoder in his helmet; he’s a good storyteller, even though he doesn’t waste words, because somehow the dry amusement and wry rasp to his tone conveys more information than any number of words ever could.

Ahsoka thinks she could listen to him tell stories of his… childhood, technically--for ages.

Tarkin’s voice is much less… pleasant to hear. Especially not when she hears the  _ words _ he’s saying, in his thick, oily,  _ unctuous _ voice, about how the clones are--he makes it sound like they’re  _ lucky _ to get a chance to lose everything they are, everything they were, everything they ever could be. She wants to kriffing  _ punch him. _ In the nose. And then go punch every damn Kaminoan. “The  _ hells,” _ she snaps (and the anger burns away the fear, gives her clarity, purpose, something to focus on), hard and sharp. “The Jedi would never--they can’t just  _ allow that. _ Can they?”

“They do,” Anakin says from somewhere above her, tiredly.

No kriffing  _ way. _ “But that’s--that’s  _ murder!” _ It doesn’t make  _ sense. _

“Some of the Jedi agree with your way of thinking, Commander Tano,” Tarkin says, superior and haughty and she  _ really wants to punch him. _ “But the Jedi do not have authority in GAR matters.”

“Like  _ hells _ they don’t,” she spits, furiously. “The Jedi are the ones who paid for the clone army, Master Obi-Wan  _ told me _ that, so  _ technically, _ the Council should have the final say in  _ anything _ pertaining to the clones. GAR regulations can go kriff themselves, or whatever.”

Rex just sighs and keeps climbing, like he doesn’t believe her, or something--she’s not sure, but she frowns, shakes her head. “All due respect, sir,” Alpha says, exhausted and faint and thin, “but that’s not how it works. Technicalities don’t matter.”

Like hells they don’t. “Well,” Ahsoka says, sharp, “it’s against the kriffing  _ Code _ to just--let murder of innocent sentients happen. And Master Ti is  _ stationed on Kamino, _ she should  _ do something. _ Why does  _ no one _ ever  _ do anything?” _ Honestly, it’s like most of the Jedi don’t even  _ care _ anymore, like they’re all too tired to bother. “I’m not gonna let them just  _ pretend it doesn’t happen _ anymore, they do that enough with all the--the  _ banthashit _ this war’s done to the Order, they can’t--”

“Ahsoka,” Anakin says,  _ hard, _ and  _ shit _ that’s the Tone. That’s the  _ I’m going to slap you into the next galaxy if you don’t shut your mouth right now _ tone.

“Sorry, Master,” she says, subsides immediately, though internally she’s still  _ burning. _

They’re almost to the top of the ladder now; when she looks up, carefully, she can see Anakin pulling himself up and out. Tarkin, predictably, waits until her Master is gone before he looks down and  _ sneers. _ Says, “I’m shocked the Jedi would allow an insolent child such as yourself in a position of authority. Your mercurial temper and impulsiveness must get you in a great deal of  _ trouble _ during battles--tell me,  _ Commander _ Tano, how many  _ units _ have you wasted?”

Ahsoka can’t help it, she  _ flinches, _ swallows hard and looks down, tightens her arms around Rex and tries not to make a noise. 

~~~

Rex is  _ tired _ . It’s hard, in a way, to even be angry at Captain Tarkin, because he’s not  _ surprised _ by the officer’s attitude. This is normal, for them.

He  _ is _ angry, though, when the captain takes a dig at his Commander, who outranks him both officially and experientially. Tarkin is a  _ coward _ , and has no  _ right _ to talk about how many  _ men _ Ahsoka has lost.

At least Ahsoka fights with them and shares the burden.

Rex would be willing to bet that Tarkin’s only been in a few battles, if  _ any _ .

Ahsoka has tightened her hold on him and leaned harder against his back, and Rex grits his teeth and follows Beta clumsily out of the pipe, off the ladder, and sets Ahsoka down (although he doesn’t let her get her weight back on her injured leg).

Tarkin smiles snidely at Ahsoka, and Rex is tired of him and his official banthashit. He lifts his chin a little, glad he has a helmet to hide his face where Tarkin does not. “You remember, I expect, sir, that Commander Tano outranks you,” he says coolly. “Take my advice and remember where you stand.”

He should really listen to his own advice.

“Just leave it, Rex,” Ahsoka says tiredly. “It’s alright.”

“It’s really not, sir,” Fives says, which draws Tarkin’s sneering, angry gaze from Rex to him.

“What’s this about?” General Skywalker says, frowning, narrowing his eyes.

“Nothing, Master.”

Rex looks down at Ahsoka, concerned. She looks withdrawn, and guilty. He doesn’t say anything about it.

“Actually, General,” Fives says, and Rex quickly switches on comms.

“Stand  _ the kriff  _ down, Fives.”

Fives does not. “Captain Tarkin questioned the Commander’s abilities and called her a child, sir. He asked her how many, what was it? How many  _ units she’s wasted _ , I think it was.”

Rex resists the urge to step a little in front of Fives, because he doesn’t trust the look on Tarkin’s face. Resists a stronger urge to pull Ahsoka against his chest.

General Skywalker scowls, says, biting, “ _ Captain _ Tarkin, that was  _ uncalled for _ . Padawan or not, Ahsoka is your superior, so I expect you to treat her with  _ respect _ .”

Damn straight.

Tarkin twists and gives General Skywalker a curt nod, eyes sharp and resentful. “Of course, General. My deepest apologies.”

Rex is sure he’s not even a little sorry - and from the way Skywalker glares and turns abruptly to survey the fuel line they’re now all standing in, he’d guess his General knows too and is having to bite back some insulting Huttese.

“I’d like to shove something pointy up his  _ shebs _ ,” Fives says matter-of-factly on comms, and Rex snorts.

“Can’t say I disagree,  _ vod _ ,” he sighs.

He does carry a vibroblade in his gauntlet. Would be kinda funny.

~~~

Ahsoka stays quiet the walk through the fuel pipe, lets Rex take more of her weight than he should--she’s  _ tired, _ suddenly, more than just the physical exhaustion. It’s the  _ emotional _ toll of all this, the thick, heavy, nearly-tangible fog of  _ guilt _ clouding her thoughts. How many men?

How many has she lost? How many squads, because she just couldn’t  _ listen, _ or because she thought she  _ knew better, _ or because she just isn’t  _ good enough, _ because she just can’t come up with tactics that match the Separatists, often enough. She can’t save them all, she can’t protect them all. 

Kriff it.

It’s not far until Anakin says, “I see the exit,” and jogs up ahead a ways, presumably to scout, and Ahsoka picks her head up with an effort.

“We’re almost out,” she murmurs, sighs. “I hate this kriffing planet.”

“You aren’t the only one, sir,” Rex says dryly, and she wishes he had his helmet off so she could see his face.

But she probably shouldn’t see his face, she gets too distracted when she can, and he--wouldn’t want her to be focusing on the wrong things.  _ How many men? _ If she’s focusing on him she’s not protecting the others, she’s not ready to fight. (He doesn’t want her to focus on him.)

“I’m sorry about Charger,” she says, very quietly, looks back down at her feet. “We should’ve--reacted faster, we’re  _ Jedi, _ one of us should’ve caught him.”

“It is what it is, sir,” he says, equally soft, but one hand tightens almost imperceptibly on her shoulder. “None of us caught him either.”

She looks up at him, sighs a bit. “None of you are Jedi with the  _ Force, _ either, Rex.” A pause, and another sigh, and then: “Should’ve pulled Hotshot out of the way, too. There was enough time to react, but we  _ didn’t.” _

“Look, Commander,” Rex says, “we lost them. It’s done, and it’s shitty, and I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Fair. “Sorry, Rex,” she mumbles, looks down again. Swallows hard, because that’s just another layer of guilt to add on to everything  _ else. _ But it’s right, it’s… it’s their fault, her and Anakin and Obi-Wan, they should’ve  _ done something. _ Should’ve saved them.  _ How many men? _

No wonder Rex--hates her, or something.

Anakin vaults up to the top of the pipe, waves them all up, and then seems to realize that none of the clones or Tarkin can do the same, so he jumps back down. Grabs Tarkin, unceremoniously, and jumps back up. “Never thought I’d end up a glorified ferry,” he grumbles, proceeds to repeat the process with the rest of the clones.

Except Rex. Ahsoka pushes away from him, grabs  _ hard _ onto the Force, and leaps up to the top of the pipe with Rex,  _ commands _ the Force to get them both up, to keep her balanced so she doesn’t fall, because  _ ow, _ she put  _ way _ too much weight on her leg there, but she needed to. It was important.

There’s a ladder, much shorter and less enclosed than the previous one, thankfully, leading up to a hatch; Anakin climbs it, opens the hatch an inch or two, calls back down, “We’re clear,” and opens the hatch up all the way.

And then he  _ swears _ in a jumble of Huttese and pulls his ‘saber, and a second later there’s commando droid parts tumbling down into the pipe. “We need to  _ move!” _

Ahsoka doesn’t hesitate. (She shouldn’t do this.) She shoves away from Rex and crosses the distance to the ladder in two bounds, climbs up right behind her Master (grits her teeth against a flare of pain), flips herself up and  _ out _ of the pipe, lands  _ hard _ (and painfully) on one side of the hatch with both ‘sabers alight. There’s a roar of sound and blaster bolts come  _ flying _ at her, at Anakin taking up a similar position on the other side of the hatch, and she balances herself as best she can and lets the Force help with the pain and focuses on defense.

“Go, Snips!” Anakin shouts, as soon as everyone else is clear behind a nearby clump of rock, and she nods.

Jumps, flips, lands poised on the balls of her feet (ow, ow,  _ ow), _ with her ‘sabers straight out behind her, and then she spins and backpedals to the rock, deflecting bolts as she goes, with Anakin right next to her. “Throw me a charge!” he shouts, the instant they’re around the rock, and Click tosses one from his pack.

Ahsoka shuts off her ‘sabers and slumps against the rock for just a moment, then pushes herself back onto her feet and glances over her shoulder. They have to  _ move, _ as soon as Anakin’s clear--

“Commander,” Rex snaps, materializing by her side, and she jumps, “sit the  _ kriff _ down,” and he grabs her arm and tugs her down next to him.

She swears at him, halfheartedly.  _ “Shavit, _ Rex, I’m  _ fine!” _ She’s really  _ not, _ but she needs to be. If she isn’t fine, it’s a problem. She  _ has _ to be. Has to be.

~~~

“You’re  _ not _ ,” Rex growls, not letting go of Ahsoka’s arm.

General Skywalker pitches the charge Click gave him into the hatch of the fuel line, and Rex tightens his grip on Ahsoka, presses back against the stone as pressure and heat and fire wash around the boulder they’re leaning against, a roar deafening him for a moment despite the dampening effects of his helmet.

Ahsoka has her hands curled tight over her montrals even after the explosions are over, which is probably good since only a second later a crab droid slams into the ground in front of them.

That was a little close for comfort.

General Skywalker, true to form, walks over casually dusting off the shoulder of his robes. “Well, I guess it’s time for Plan B,” he says, smirking.

“There’s a Plan  _ B _ ?” Tarkin says. Why that surprises him, Rex isn’t sure - they aren’t  _ dikut’la _ . Why would they attack the  _ Citadel _ without a back-up plan?

“There’s always a Plan B,” Skywalker says dryly, and Rex huffs and pushes himself to his feet, pulling Ahsoka with him. “We’ll meet Artoo at Obi-Wan’s position.”

Ahsoka, it seems, is sick of him manhandling her; she tugs against his hand on her arm a little, scowling. “I can  _ walk _ , Rex.”

“ _ Enough _ , sir,” Rex says, more sharply than he should, quickening his pace after General Skywalker (who’s almost running, despite the fact that their wounded have to keep up). “Just kriffing  _ let me help _ .”

Everything’s enough of a mess without her kriffing up her leg and being entirely unable to stand, and they have to find General Kenobi and the ship  _ soon _ .

Ahsoka doesn’t say anything, just lets him take on more of her weight again and move them into a fast, hobbling pace after General Skywalker, following the fuel line. If they can just get to Kenobi and Cody again, they’ll be  _ out _ and home free.

~~~

Beta adjusts his hold on his  _ ori’vod _ and scoops Alpha into his arms, adjusting him more so it’s more  _ comfortable _ (but his  _ vod _ still whimpers raw and wretched), runs. Runs, because he can do that, even though the rocks cut his feet and he’s  _ exhausted _ and his  _ ori’vod _ is softly moaning every time the ground changes. And Beta has no armor, no blasters, but he can  _ run, _ he can keep up, at least (and his whole  _ body _ aches and throbs from the electricity, from the blaster burn on his leg), he can make sure not to slow down the others, the ARC troopers and the General (and he feels  _ guilty, _ thick and choking, but  _ oh _ he wishes General Skywalker was  _ his General, _ instead of General Piell, wishes he could serve under Commander Tano--she  _ healed Alpha-- _ and Captain Rex) and the Captain and the Commander and Captain Tarkin. Click and Hang-up are nearby, keeping an eye on him, Beta thinks; probably to make sure he’s  _ okay. _ He and Alpha got the worst of it.

Alpha…

Beta probably  _ shouldn’t have, _ but when the damn clankers had started  _ torturing Alpha, _ he’d not been able to help himself. He’d  _ had _ to push between them, to protect his  _ ori’vod, _ his  _ ruusaar, _ when Alpha  _ screamed _ for the droids (and they wanted to hear him,  _ laughed, _ droids shouldn’t be able to laugh, they didn’t like Beta because he doesn’t scream), and the droids hadn’t liked that. Click had tried to stop him.

He hadn’t let him.

It isn’t  _ fair, _ Beta thinks, clutches Alpha closer, nearly falls over a rock and swears under his breath (and it’s Hang-up who grabs his arm, helps him up, helps him keep moving). None of this is fair. It’s not fair that Commander Tano (she  _ healed _ Alpha, defended them all, General Piell’s never done that before) is limping--or, Beta realizes, she’s actually being  _ carried _ by Captain Rex now, doesn’t seem very pleased with that, but he remembers how badly she’d seemed to be hurting and he thinks it’s a good thing. It’s not fair that they’ve lost  _ vode _ on this mission, that brothers have died. More brothers. The whole 431st is  _ gone, _ except for--for him and Alpha and Click and Hang-up, more  _ vode _ shouldn’t have to die for four of them. Only four…

But if it means Alpha survives, that’s good. Beta wants Alpha to survive, more than anything else.

He isn’t sure how long they run for (it’s long enough his side is screaming and he can’t seem to get a full breath and his leg hurts so so much), but eventually they make it to the airfield where the shuttle’s parked. And there’s already  _ so many droids _ firing, and turrets blazing, and crab droids and B2s and B1s and--

And the Jedi and Captain Tarkin and Captain Rex all go towards where General Kenobi and General Piell are, but Beta doesn’t, because he doesn’t want to be in the way--instead he follows the ARC troopers, follows Click and Hang-up, over to where Commander Cody and two more 212th  _ vode _ are taking cover behind another crate, and he crouches down gently.

Pulls Alpha tight against his chest and curls half over his  _ ori’vod’s _ body, says softly, “It’s gonna be okay, Alpha, I’ve got you, we’re gonna be safe, okay? Commander Cody and the ARC troopers are here, and the Generals are just over there, we’ll protect you.”

“‘S okay,  _ ori’vod,” _ Alpha says tiredly, “‘s okay,  _ ner’kot, _ I know.”

But it’s  _ not okay. _ It’s not okay and Beta has never felt more helpless in his life, doesn’t ever want to feel this way again. Doesn’t know what he’ll do if his  _ ori’vod _ doesn’t make it out.

He’s gotta. 

Beta doesn’t think he could live with himself, if he lets Alpha die here.

~~~

Rex has to let Ahsoka down, when they meet up with Kenobi and Piell and the others, so that she can draw her sabers and he can draw his blasters.

“The ship is surrounded,” Ahsoka says, anxiously, peering out over the heavy stack of crates they’re covering behind. “I don’t know how we’re going to get to it.”

They’re a small force, Rex thinks, shooting out at the droids pinning them down, so this will not be easy.

“I suggest a full frontal assault on their forces,” Captain Tarkin says, of  _ course _ he has a suggestion. “We can break through to the shuttle if we’re swift and decisive.”

“What I’m more worried about are those turrets,” Kenobi says. “If they man those, they could take out our ship before we ever get to it.”

“If we made it to the shuttle, we could use it's weapons systems to decimate those droids!”

“Well, whatever we’re going to do, we need to do it  _ fast _ .” Skywalker points with his saber up above them, and Rex swears because there are three incoming commandos on speeders. He shoots at them, but they dodge, and then General Piell is jumping onto the top of the crates and from there takes a flying leap onto one of the speeders, slices through the droid, and Skywalker isn’t far behind, targets a different speeder. Rex stops watching them, then, to focus on the remaining droids down here. They have that situation in hand.

He shoots past the crates, takes out four B2s with four shots, lifts one blaster to Cody where he sees him crouched behind some light cover with Fives and Echo.

They're doing alright, well enough that Rex considers charging the droids, when six commandos with shields emerge from the tower, casual as you like, and start shooting, so much more precise than other clankers.

He  _ hates _ commandos, he thinks, shifting his attention to them and firing  _ one two three four _ .

Ahsoka is mostly deflecting blaster bolts, but then she draws away to deal with a small squad of B2s, and Rex forces himself not to worry about it, just shoots on his own - and looks up. The Generals are on a speeder, and it looks like they've taken out two of the others while the third is chasing them - as Rex looks, blaster bolts start shrieking up at them and Rex goes back to shooting at the commandos; he hits one in the leg but other than the droid staggering and limping, it doesn't do much. Still, the shield falters, so Rex shoots in its suddenly-exposed faceplate and it collapses.

One of the droids breaks away from their formation and takes off running towards one of the turrets, and Rex shoots after it but it's too far and too fast. It bounds up the mechanism, swings into the seat of the turret, and starts powering up the weapon; Rex swears and Fives throws a charge that takes out most of the remaining commandos.

The droid in the turret starts shooting at the Generals on their commandeered speeder, the heavy bolts catching the vehicle and blowing it to shattered pieces.

_ His General _ .

Skywalker and Piell fall, skid on the ground, don't get up for a moment ( _ shit shit shit _ ), and the commando swivels the turret back around and starts shooting at them.

The shuttle. The thing’s going to shoot the ship and they won't be able to escape.

Echo sees it too, and Rex hears him shout, “This is our only chance!” and he sprints out of his cover, scooping up a fallen commando shield from the ground. Fives is laying down cover fire and Rex surges forward and helps till Echo is to the ship, scrambling up onto its ramp-

“Echo, look out!” and Rex sees what Fives does, the turret firing close and closer and then- then its heavy bolts slam into the shuttle and it  _ erupts _ , the pressure of the blast knocking Fives off his feet and Rex staggering back, back,  _ no no no _ not Echo, not his  _ vod’ika _ . Everything’s dull pressure in his ears and heat against his HUD and the subsiding glow of fire, and he struggles to focus.

Fives staggers to his feet a second later, screams, “ _ Echo! _ ” and Rex  _ aches _ .

~~~

When Echo, his batchmate, his  _ ori’vod, _ shouts, “This is our only chance!” and runs for the shuttle, a shield in one hand, firing neat and precise through it at the clankers, Fives does what he has always done: he covers his brother. Aims and fires, one-two-three-four, watches the turrets (please, General, get that damn droid down), and watches his  _ ori’vod _ and considers throwing another grenade--

Echo backs onto the shuttle’s ramp and the turret fire follows him, creeps closer and closer, and  _ shavit, _ he doesn’t think Echo’s noticed it yet, and “Echo! Look out!”

But his  _ ori’vod _ just keeps going (and Fives lowers his blasters for a moment, stares, a sense of inevitability, of dread, washing over him like the rising tide) and then, and then--

Before Echo can get into the shuttle that  _ karking _ commando droid aims and fires and there’s a blast of green light, sickly and cold, and it seems like time  _ stops, _ like everything just freezes, moving in slow motion, and Fives tries to run but he can’t breathe, can’t  _ move, _ and the bolts fly into the shuttle over Echo’s helmet and then with a snap-jerk time speeds up, flashing by in disjointed shattered seconds.

The shuttle blows and debris from the explosion blows the turret the commando’s on.

And Echo--

_ “Echo!” _ It’s a desperate cry, ripped from his throat, and he runs forward a couple steps (has to find him, his batchmate, his brother, his  _ ori’vod, _ his best friend, since Rishi it’s just been the two of them against the galaxy and he  _ doesn’t want to go it alone, _ please, Echo, come back), except there’s a voice:

“We have to go  _ now,” _ and it’s General Kenobi, and Fives wants to scream. Wants to say  _ how can you just abandon him? _

But he doesn’t, because he is an ARC-trooper, he shouldn’t--say things like that to his Generals, to Skywalker and Kenobi. But he-- _ Echo, _ he wants Echo, he might not be dead and they have to  _ find him, _ you don’t just leave your own behind--

“Fives!” It’s Commander Tano, and he turns, slowly, away from the explosion that’s burned itself onto his retinas, a glowing afterimage of grief every time he closes his eyes--but she’s not telling him to go, like he expects. Instead she’s igniting her shoto too, snapping out, “You guys go ahead, we’ll catch up. I’ll defend, you go get him.”

In this moment, Fives thinks he really, genuinely could kiss her. “Sir,” he acknowledges, and he  _ runs _ for the shuttle, legs pumping, heart pounding,  _ please don’t be dead Echo please please please, _ and his Commander keeps pace with him, deflecting bolts with her typical grace and ease, and he fires one-two-three-four at the clankers and then holsters his blasters and drops to his knees by the wreckage. Digs through it, desperate (and there’s his  _ ori’vod’s _ helmet, no, oh no), because he  _ has to be here, _ has to be alive, please, Echo, don’t go, don’t leave.

He hears the sound of a GAR-issued blaster firing and he glances up, keeps shifting through the debris with his hands, sees the Captain firing precise and perfect as always, backing them up, and his throat closes over a rush of tears. Thank the  _ little gods. _ He’s not alone, he’s not--

His hand closes around plastoid.

Fives lets out a shout and  _ shoves, _ flips a heavy, hot chunk of molten durasteel out of the way, and there’s Echo, battered and bloody and unconscious, but when Fives fumbles a glove off and seeks out a pulse it’s  _ there, _ faint and thready but there, Echo’s  _ alive, _ and he didn’t  _ leave, _ thank the little gods, his  _ ori’vod _ isn’t dead.

There’s the distinctive sound of a turret and Fives scoops Echo into his arms and goes to stand just as Commander Tano deflects a pair of bolts from the turret--and the force of the blasts throws her to the ground like a  _ toy, _ and he swears--but she flips herself back to her feet, though she’s shaky, and Fives can’t pay attention--

Except then she lets out a  _ cry _ and he sees she’s missed a bolt, one that hits her in the gut, and  _ kriff kriff kriff _ but they have to  _ move _ and his arms are full of Echo, and--and she gestures at him to  _ go _ and uncurls herself, runs (Rex is gonna be so  _ pissed), _ keeps pace next to him even though he’s  _ sprinting, _ and they run and run and run and skid over the edge of the airfield, onto the rocks and dirt and uneven ground of the planet, and Fives clutches his  _ ori’vod _ close and focuses on the rise and fall of Echo’s chest, faint and shallow as it is.

He's alive. Not dead, not lost, not gone.  _Alive._

It feels like a miracle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Mando'a translations:**
> 
>  
> 
>  _K'uur, vod. Cui ogir'olar.:_ hush, brother. that's irrelevant.
> 
>  _ne'johaa:_ shut up
> 
>  _osik'la:_ messed up, horrible, screwed up
> 
>  _ni jate:_ i'm good
> 
>  _udesii:_ calm down
> 
>  _ruusaar:_ foundation
> 
>  _ner'kot:_ my strength


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have some canon divergence and bantering and flirting and pining. and also. AHSOKA IN REX'S HELMET, y'all.

Alpha _knows_ he’d be less than useless, if he stayed with the ARC trooper, _Fives_ , but he still grabs Beta’s shoulder (not too tight, he knows what they did to his _ori’vod_ ) and leans toward them, _wants_ to stay and help. But Beta is already moving again, after the Generals, his arms just short of too tight around Alpha.

He thinks Echo is _dead_ , and Fives - Beta jumps off the airfield, staggers, and _oh gods,_ he _hurts_ , but he bites back a whimper because Beta would feel bad - Fives is so scared, even Alpha can see that, and he knows too because if that was _his_ brother, _his_ best friend, he’d go after him too.

Even if Echo is dead.

He can’t believe the Captain and Commander stay, he thinks, glances up at his captain, who’s scrambling after General Skywalker without looking back. Maybe it’s stupid that they are up there, fighting for what’s probably a lost cause, but- but even still.

Beta stumbles a little and Alpha swears to himself because his _ori’vod_ shouldn’t be carrying him, Beta should have someone else helping _him_ , if they were smart they would have left Alpha behind _ages_ ago but the Commander had wasted energy (she said she was happy to do) trying to fix his _damn_ side. Even though something’s wrong with her leg.

He shouldn’t think like this; Beta would scold him.

They run in a tight huddle into a cave of sorts, an outcropping of rock with an overarching ceiling over it, like two teeth coming together, and they come to a stop in amongst the twisted, porous struts of stone that connect ground and ceiling, for the moment _sheltered_ from the droids and _Commander Sobek_ and the blasters.

Alpha loosens his arms around Beta, tries to get _down_ so his _ori’vod_ can rest too, but Beta won’t let him. “ _Vod_ , please, you’re hurt too,” he says, _tries_ to sound authoritative but it doesn’t really work.

Because Beta doesn’t react to pain, hadn’t when he shoved Alpha _back_ with one arm and practically _stepped into_ the electrostaff, snarling, and Alpha _hates_ when he does that, because it _hurts_ and he _screams_ but he can take it just as well as his _ori’vod_ can, can’t stand that his brother thinks he has to take pain for him, Alpha doesn’t want anyone _doing_ that. And it should be better that Beta hadn’t cried out when they’d hurt him, pinned him to the ground, but it _isn’t_ better, none of it’s okay.

Beta does not set him down and Alpha swears at him. “Stop _kriffing_ doing this, _ori’vod_.”

“Not likely,” Beta says, smiles wryly. “I’m _fine_ , Alpha.”

Bantha kriffing _shit_.

And then Fives comes sprinting across the uneven ground towards them, _fast_ , even though he’s- he’s carrying Echo, in all his armor, and then Alpha sees the Captain behind him, carrying ( _oh no_ ) the Commander.

He does _not_ understand why they would risk-

And then he feels a little better because both Fives and Captain Rex come to a grinding halt next to them and he realizes Commander Tano is swearing up a blue streak, glaring at Captain Rex, who Alpha _thinks_ is entirely unmoved by the whole thing.

Echo’s helmet is gone, and he looks _bad_ , but Alpha realizes that he isn’t _dead_ , not with the way Fives pushes through the troopers to General Kenobi (he’s a legend, Alpha remembers) and so, so scared but so _sure_ (to a General), “ _Please_ , sir, can you do something for him?”

And _General Kenobi_ , the _Negotiator_ , nods and says, “Lay him down, Fives, and I’ll try.”

“We hardly have _time_ for this,” Captain Tarkin says, sharply, but Kenobi doesn’t even look at him as he crouches by Echo and Alpha can’t believe it.

Fives hasn’t lost his _ori’vod_ and maybe he still won’t because… because the General can _help_ and it’s not that General Piell is a bad General but… but he wouldn’t (in fairness, likely couldn’t) do this.

~~~

Ahsoka wants _down._

“Rex,” she snaps, halfheartedly punching at his armor (because really, _ow,_ that hurts), “put me _down,_ I’m kriffing _fine,”_ but he ignores her like he’s been doing ever since he snapped out a single swear at her and, ignoring her protests, scooped her off her feet. “Please?”

“Commander,” he growls out, “no.”

“I _outrank_ you,” she tries.

“I’m glaring at you,” he informs her, matter-of-factly. “And you’re injured, so _technically--”_

“You aren’t a medic, you can’t pull a kriffing _Kix_ on me--”

“Experience outranks everything,” and he sighs a little, shakes his head. “Why are you so _stubborn?”_

“Jedi,” she tells him, snorting--and _ow,_ damn it, that’s a bad idea, that _hurts._ Kriff. “It’s--” and she winces, sucks in a sharp breath, “it comes with the Force shit.”

There’s a sudden _rumbling_ sound, and she tenses on instinct, but it’s just the rocks shifting--this is possibly not the best place to be sheltering, she thinks. “You don’t say,” Rex says dryly, adjusting her to a slightly more comfortable position (thank the Force). The stone groans again, a loud moaning sound, and she winces and tucks her head against Rex’s chest, clapping one hand over her montrals.

Damn sensitive hearing.

“I do say,” she says shortly, _ow,_ talking is starting to hurt. Looks up at him (can’t help but wish he had his helmet off, so she could see his face) and pokes his chest with a finger. “You could, I don’t know, _put me down_ now, Rexter.”

“Not a chance,” and she thinks he’s probably glaring at her again. “You’ve been _shot._ In the _stomach.”_

“And?” She raises an eyebrow at him, flicks his cuirass lightly. “I still have legs.”

“If you keep bearing weight on them, you won’t.”

“Kriff you,” she says, with feeling.

He ignores her, pointedly.

“Rex!” She shoves her palm into his chest, makes a face at him. “Seriously, let me _down.”_

“No.”

“I’m gonna punch you,” she mumbles, sulkily.

“You do that, Commander.”

 _Why_ is he like this. Why. (She can’t quite stop the flush of warmth, though, because he hasn’t--they haven’t had a light back-and-forth conversation like this since, since Mortis, and _kriff_ she’s missed it, missed this, missed him, her Rex.) “I hate you sometimes.”

He makes a noncommittal noise, shakes his head, and she grumbles under her breath, some rather insulting Huttese. (Anakin’s always found it… _educational_ to make sure she knows how to _properly_ swear at people.) And then there’s a shriek that sounds like a dying thing, and the weak stone propping up the arch of rock over the entrance to their cave groans and crumbles, slow and inexorable as the sunset, rocks and boulders tumbling to the ground and crashing against each other, building up a wall blocking them from the reddish-orange glow of the lava flows, and then with a final shuddering _boom_ one last boulder slams into the pile and there’s darkness.

Ahsoka closes her eyes, fast, finds the front of Rex’s cuirass and grabs on _hard,_ swallows (it’s dark, she can’t--there could be anything in the shadows, she doesn’t know, can’t watch her back, and if she can’t protect herself she’s useless and she’ll die and everything is cold and close and) and hides her face, tries not to shake or make any incriminating noises. Rex doesn’t need to know she’s still enough a child to be afraid of the dark.

She’s already screwed up by letting him see that she doesn’t like small spaces, and now? Now he’ll really think she’s a _child._

~~~

Everything is dust and darkness, and Rex’s HUD automatically switches to night vision as he fumbles for the lights on his helmet with one hand while still holding Ahsoka.

She feels clinging and scared and as the rumble of stone subsides, all he hears is breathing from her and others, harsh and fast and loud. Everyone looks uninjured, at least, and he hurries over to Beta, who has fallen, is struggling to a sitting position, cradling Alpha, and crouches down himself, setting Ahsoka down against the new, crumbled wall of rock.

She seems scared, looks anxious in the light of his helmet lights and his night vision. She doesn't seem to want to let go of his cuirass, but he pulls her hands away, careful. “I just want to check on the others,” he says. “I'll be right back.”

He's been wanting to give her some meds this whole time, but they haven't had time - he has some though, so he'll give some to her and to Alpha.

Everyone appears to be accounted for and unhurt - Kenobi has simply settled down by Echo again and is focused on him, and Fives and General Skywalker and General Piell and Cody are examining the crumbled stone, talking softly.

“Do you think we can get through, sirs?” Rex says.

“With time,” Skywalker says. “I think Master Piell and I can work on shifting the rocks with the Force.”

“My men will help,” Cody says, turns to Rex and Rex _knows_ what look his _ori’vod_ has on his face. “You too, Rex?”

“I'm giving pain meds to the wounded,” Rex says. “I'll help after.”

He turns away, and Cody goes on comms. “Rex, for _kriff’s sake_ , just be smart, _vod_. You know you're making excuses.”

Rex scowls and pulls off his helmet, tucks it under his arm, and goes over to Alpha and Beta, crouches down to offer his canteen, digs in his utility belt for his pain meds. “Here, _vod_ ,” he says. “This’ll help. You take some too, Beta.”

Beta shakes his head, but Rex glares until Beta takes a couple pills from him, swallows them with a long mouthful of water.

And then he schools his expression and goes back to Ahsoka, sits down next to her and holds out more pills and his canteen. “Here, sir,” he says.

“I don't need them,” she says, shaking her head, and Rex drops his eyes meaningfully to the blaster burn in her side, her leg. “Everyone else needs them more. What about Echo?”

“Echo’s not even _awake_ , sir. Kriffing take these, I have more.”

“It doesn't hurt that-”

“ _Ne’johaa,_ Commander!” Rex clenches his hand tight around his canteen. “ _Shut up_ and take the _karking meds_.”

She _flinches_ (and _haar’chak_ , he didn't mean to be so harsh), takes both the meds and the canteen from him and swallows the pills. Then she tugs her knees up to her chest (wincing) and stares at the rough ground between her feet. “Sorry,” she says, raspy.

“Just-” Rex rubs his hand hastily over his hair, struggling. “You're gonna really hurt yourself so just, please be _careful_ .” As if being _shot_ doesn't qualify as _really hurting herself_.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- I can still be useful, I won't be a burden, I promise.”

Rex frowns, leans back against the wall and traces the stiff leather edge of his kama. “Ahsoka, is Alpha a burden?” He keeps his voice lower, quieter, tries not to be confrontational.

She hesitates, still staring at the ground. “Alpha didn’t lie his way onto a mission he was never cleared for.” Pushing his canteen back into his hands, she shifts with a little hitched gasp of pain and leans against his side, dropping her head onto his shoulder. He tenses, _wants_ to shove himself to his feet and go somewhere, anywhere else, except he _can’t_ because she thinks she has to be _useful_.

“Sir, I don’t think that’s relevant,” he says. “You’re here now, and you got us in here and helped save Echo and healed Alpha so we could move faster.”

“It _is_ relevant,” she says, sharply. “Master told me this isn’t a kriffing place for _learning_ and I thought he’d need me so I just ignored him. He said ‘you either do or you die’ but I just thought-” She stops, shakes her head, hard, and Rex jumps on the end of the phrase.

“You _know_ you shouldn’t have come,” he says, as matter-of-factly and dismissively as he can. She flinches again (kark _it_ ), tries to interrupt, but no. “And I’m kriffing- We’re worried about you. But you’re doing good, sir, and you aren’t dead yet. And you aren’t _karking_ useless, for kriff’s sake.”

She shifts against his side, _closer_. “Tarkin thinks I am.”

Tarkin can go kriff himself with a blaster.

“Tarkin hasn’t done a _single_ helpful thing this entire mission, Commander,” Rex says, evenly, dropping his voice so low he’s not even sure she’ll hear him. “He’s just a kriffing coward with a rank, not like- not like you, sir.”

~~~

Rex is _angry,_ Ahsoka thinks, but--but not at her, at Tarkin, which doesn’t really make _sense,_ but whatever. She kind of likes it when he’s angry (at other people, when he’s mad at her he just gets _really overprotective_ and snappy), because he gets all fierce and intense and his voice gets all low and growly and--

And kriff, what kind of painkillers did he give her?

She swallows, tries to push the tangle of _utterly_ off-topic thoughts about Rex’s voice out of her head, but she finds she can’t entirely keep track of the conversation anymore. Something about… him being a coward with a rank? Right, Rex was--actually complimenting her. When, by all rights, he should be _hating_ her for jeopardizing the mission. “I’m not…” and she stops, shakes her head, closes her eyes and swallows again. “He said-- _insolent child,_ and that my--temper gets me in trouble on the battlefield,” and she half-shrugs one shoulder. “‘S true, you know. I--disobey orders and get them _killed.”_

“Commander,” Rex says, soft and quiet and _gentle,_ almost, like a caress, “you do the best you know how. We… officers, I mean, we have to live with mistakes and learn from them, or… or you’ll never sleep at night.” He pauses, and when he speaks again his voice has gone lower, _intense,_ velvet and gravel. “We know you want to keep us safe.”

She shivers, a little, something vaguely like static electricity crackling over her skin, tries to keep her scattered thoughts in order before she can say something totally _inappropriate,_ about his voice and--and… she blinks, sighs. “Wish I was better at it,” she hums, softly, closes her eyes again and leans a bit more into his side. “Keeping you safe, I mean. All of you, but--especially--” and she sighs, shakes her head. Opens her eyes and shifts her head so she can stare up at his warm golden eyes. He’s so… _pretty,_ a voice in her head supplies, and she swallows and tries to push that aside. “I wish I was--better at keeping _you_ safe, Rex.”

He abruptly looks away from her, pulls away some and tightens his hands on his helmet, and she pushes herself to sit up, lean back against the kriffing rock wall. Which is way less comfortable than Rex’s side--and that doesn’t _matter._ She recognizes the tension on his face, thinks she’s said something wrong (reminded him she has-- _feelings_ she shouldn’t have for him, feelings he doesn’t want her to have), and he’s probably going to leave, and--and his helmet has a light on it, a little spot of brightness in the dark, and she shudders a bit. “Rex?”

“Yeah, Commander.”

“Can you--I know it’s dumb and childish,” she starts, “but I’m--a little bit, afraid of the dark, and I thought--” She stops, huffs, runs one hand down her montral and sighs. “Can you--would you leave your helmet? With me? Just so--I can have a light?”

“Yeah, sure, sir,” he says, hesitates. “The Generals need help with the cave-in, will you be alright?”

She nods, and he hands her his helmet, doesn’t meet her eyes, pushes himself to his feet and walks off (and she can’t help admiring the… no, Ahsoka, Jedi, you are a _Jedi,_ pull it together), over towards where the 212th troopers and Anakin and Master Piell are working at the rockfall. She sighs, tiredly, shifts her legs so she’s sitting cross-legged (winces, because that _hurts)_ and hugs his helmet to her chest, careful of her blaster wound. And whatever these painkillers are, they must be strong, because there’s something in her that’s _curious_ about--about Rex’s helmet, and she stares at it a moment, traces a finger over the jaig eyes, and then before she really _considers_ what she’s doing she picks it up and sets it on her head.

And _kriff,_ but this thing has _night vision,_ woah. And maybe it pinches her montrals a bit, but… but _night vision._ Why don’t her eyes have night vision? She wants night vision, that’d be _awesome._ “This is _cool,”_ she says, giggles at the way her voice sounds all scratchy and staticky through the vocoder.

 _“Commander,”_ a voice crackles in her montrals, _“what the kriff are you doing, sir?”_

Ahsoka _jumps,_ lets out an undignified squeak and swivels her head around to see-- _Cody_ watching her, and she flushes dark sienna and pulls the helmet off, sets it on her lap.

Oooooops.

~~~

Rex goes over by General Skywalker and nods to him, starts hefting rocks and tossing them easily to the side, a little jealous of the seeming effortlessness of Skywalker’s use of the Force. His own hands are still tired from so much _climbing_ , and he’s grateful for his gloves or he thinks he’d be getting blisters by now.

He tries not to think about Ahsoka curling close, looking up at him with those _damn_ blue eyes, saying she wants him _safe_.

Still, he finds himself glancing over his shoulder, and without meaning to, totally stops what he’s doing, fumbling on the rock he’s holding. Ahsoka is crosslegged against the wall, _his helmet_ on her head, her hands on either side of it, and she’s looking around her almost _overdramatically_ (not much peripheral vision with the HUD). He _gapes_ (and Cody smacks him on the shoulder, makes him jump), and Ahsoka sticks her hands out in front of her, twists them like she’s fascinated by them, palms out and then backs of her hands. And he hears just the _faintest_ giggle from her, and a soft, “This is _cool!_ ” Her voice sounds all distorted, but still, Rex smiles a little despite himself.

A second later she _jumps_ , yanks off his helmet and holds it away from her, staring at it like it’s a suddenly hostile animal, and Rex sighs and twists around, raises an eyebrow at Cody. His _ori’vod_ just shrugs at him.

Ahsoka probably didn’t know there was a comm feed in her new helmet.

“Rex, maybe you should rest,” General Skywalker says, sounds concerned. “We can worry about this, just take a few.”

Rex grumbles a protest, but his General looks so kriffing _worried_ about him now (little gods take it), so he tosses his rock down, makes a subtle, rude gesture at Cody, and marches over to sit down by Alpha and Beta (which, unfortunately, is also right next to Captain Tarkin). He can’t go back to Ahsoka. Won’t.

Still, he can’t help looking at her again; she’s fiddling with the viewfinder on his helmet, then she picks it up again and plops it back on her head (it’s apparently squishing her headtails a little, but she’s visibly delighted with the whole thing) and flips the viewfinder up and down a few times.

“Like I said,” Captain Tarkin says, and Rex twists to look at him, realizes the captain was also watching his Commander, and he looks extremely affronted. “She is just a child, after all.” He shoots a look at Rex like he expects him to _agree_ , to commiserate about this.

Rex _burns_ . Tarkin is not like him, they are not _friends_ , she is not a _kid_ (any more than Rex is, anyway) and if Tarkin thinks for one _second_ that Rex is going to humor his shitty ego and let that slide- And sure, Rex knows that Tarkin outranks him by default (because Rex is a clone, clones always rank lower, that’s just the way it is), but they’re both Captains and so- so technically Rex has every right to talk to Tarkin however he wants.

“And yet she’s a far better officer than you could ever be,” he says, mildly, lets just a trace of a growl into his voice. “I believe you were the one running out of danger every time we hit it.”

“And she ran _into_ danger on an injured leg,” Tarkin says, sharply, his eyes going so, so icy. “That is not the mark of a _good_ officer, _Captain_ Rex, that is the mark of an irresponsible child wanting to be impressive. Would you prefer I behaved like her and risked vital intel by waltzing around on the front lines?”

Yeah, actually, he would, Rex thinks. He might get himself shot, which would be _incredibly_ satisfying. “If that meant you gave a kriff about your troopers’ lives, then yeah, I would,” he snaps. “She knows what she’s _doing_ . Until you can do better I suggest you remember where you stand and show her the respect she _deserves, Captain_ Tarkin. She took a blaster bolt for her men. You let yours be tortured for you. You have no credibility here.”

Tarkin smiles thin and unamused, like a shark. “Oh, I _know_ where _I_ stand, _clone_ . Perhaps you would be wise to remember where your place is, in this system. It is the _duty_ of clones like you to be tortured and killed so that your superiors, men like myself who carry the _real_ burden of leadership, can do what needs to be done.”

Rex holds Tarkin’s gaze, steady, steady, steady, although he knows what has to happen, on this blade’s edge he finds himself walking. “I remember,” he says, low and fierce and strained, and looks down. Clenches his jaw and fists. “You’ll have to excuse me, Tarkin,” he says, smooth. “My Commander needs me, and I’m sure you have no interest in continuing this conversation, as it’s so beneath you.”

“No interest whatsoever, Captain,” Tarkin says, smoothly, and Rex stands, ignores the way all of his _vode_ are staring at him, especially Alpha, and- and kriff it, he’s never been one to run from danger once it’s here, not like Tarkin, so he turns and gives the captain a smile of his own, wolfish and almost a snarl.

“We have that much in common, then,” Rex says, so, so light. “Enjoy the _real burden of leadership_ , Captain - it suits you.”

And he strides back across the dusty cave to his Commander, drops down to sit next to her (she jumps, a little guiltily, probably because she’s still wearing his helmet), and unceremoniously tugs her against his side.

His _vode_ are still staring.

That was _probably_ really karking stupid of him. He doesn’t care.

~~~

Ahsoka stops fiddling with the various buttons on Rex’s helmet (even though the viewfinder is fascinating) when she sees him start talking to Tarkin--well, sort of. She _means_ to, but his helmet does _so many things_ she wishes her eyes would do. Except for the fact that the HUD has _no_ peripheral vision _whatsoever,_ she almost wants one of her own.

 _Night vision?_ A _viewfinder?_ And, apparently, _helmet comms?_

Yeah, sign her the _kriff_ up.

Except then Rex starts being very _fierce_ and _growly_ and _intense_ at Tarkin, and also she thinks he probably should _not_ be talking so… um, well, _disrespectfully._ If what Tarkin said earlier about--about _reconditioning_ is true, then he needs to be _careful._

And then he just… stands up and walks over to her, like--she’s not sure, but she hadn’t thought he’d be coming back. She’d pushed too much, after all.

But he plops down beside her, offers her a bit of a grin and slips an arm around her shoulders (he’s _touching her,_ oh Force, it’s like her brain short-circuits and she’s _so_ grateful the helmet hides her gape), says, his voice still low and growling, “Am I gonna get my helmet back?”

She shrugs, wants to give him a teasing grin, but the helmet’s in the way. “I dunno,” she says, casually, “this whole _night vision_ thing is pretty awesome.”

“Yeah, it’s not bad,” he says, “but I do need it eventually.”

She considers pulling it off and giving it back to him, except she realizes, quite suddenly, that if she just tilts the helmet just a _little bit_ she can--she can _stare at him_ and he won’t _know._ She can trace the lines of his face, his cheekbones and his jawline and the arch of his nose, his intense, fierce, _warm_ golden eyes, the fact that he has--his eyelashes are long and thick and black and ordinarily she wouldn’t have the chance to _look_ at them, to see the way they curl soft over his bronze skin when he blinks, but right now she has a _helmet on_ and nobody can reprimand her for _staring._

Which she really thinks they _shouldn’t,_ anyway. At least, not Anakin. He kriffing stares at Padme _constantly_ whenever she’s around. And anyway, who could blame her? Rex is kriffing _pretty._

She has the sudden urge to run her fingers through his hair again, except she remembers how well _that_ turned out the last time, and so she just, _barely,_ manages to restrain herself. Tucks herself into Rex’s side a bit and adjusts herself (with a wince, because _ow)_ so she has a better angle to… _observe_ his quite frankly _gorgeous_ profile (and she would never let herself think this if she wasn’t on pain meds, but… she is and so she might as well appreciate him while she’s got the chance). She slips an arm around his waist, grins (because he _can’t see_ her face), because this is _kriffing cool._ She wants a helmet even _more_ now. A way to watch Rex without him knowing?

Hells, yes.

~~~

Rex still tenses a little when Ahsoka tucks her arm around his waist and nestles into his side, her head in his helmet tilting against his shoulder a little, and at first he’s confused because she’s being very still and very quiet. Is she _asleep?_

But no. He looks at her, at the helmet, and the little tilt to her head that makes it _seem_ as if she’s looking past him, not at him.

But he knows how to do that, knows exactly the best way to look so you can see where you want with the limited peripheral vision but no one knows what you’re looking at, and he thinks… no, he _knows_ , that Ahsoka is staring at him. As she has done in the past, but usually not without his being able to see and catch her.

Now she thinks she can stare with impunity, and actually, it’s kind of- No. He leans back, gets more comfortable, and lets out a long sigh. “That was stupid of me,” he says, softly. “Don't you think?” And alright, so it’s a _little_ mean, but he shifts, looks _right_ where he knows her eyes are, not where the helmet’s orientation would say, knows he meets her gaze. And he doesn’t _mean_ to, per se, but he _smirks_.

~~~

Kriff.

Ahsoka swallows, jerkily, because _kriff_ he’s--he’s _staring_ at her, totally meeting her eyes even though he shouldn’t be able to know where she’s looking, which means-- _shit,_ he _knows,_ he--probably does this himself? Which opens a _whole_ new world of possibilities.

Kriff. Focusing, he asked you a--

And he _smirks._

Oh.

Hells.

Ahsoka gulps, feels a flush spread up her neck and across her face, and suddenly the helmet is entirely too hot and close and she can’t quite _breathe,_ but she is _not_ going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how karking _deadly_ that smirk is, wow, damn. So she swallows, says, “Yeah,” only her voice comes out hoarse and a bit throaty and raspy and she swallows again, tries to make everything work _normally._ Which is almost beyond her powers, at the moment, because _damn_ he’s still meeting her eyes and smirking at her and… what did he say, again? Something about… she has _no idea._ Kriff.

He’s so _smug._

“You in there, sir?” he asks, sounds amused, and she almost chokes, because his voice is carefully light but low, so that nobody else can hear, and that kriffing electric charge sparks across her skin again and she shivers.

Swallows. “Yeah, um. Where else would I be?” Good, that was--vaguely coherent. She thinks. If he’d just--stop _smirking_ at her maybe she’d be able to form an actual _thought_ but--but he won’t and kriff.

He shifts again, looks a little away, modulates his voice some so he’s less… intense and growly and velvet-and-gravel, says, “I really could use that back.”

Fine. “As long as you leave it off,” she says, and then snaps her mouth shut, because _kriffing hells_ she didn’t mean to say that? “Um. I mean, here,” and she blushes and lifts her head so she can pull the karking stupid thing off and hand it to him.

He sets it down on the ground next to him and she lays her head back down on his shoulder, closes her eyes and sighs tiredly.

~~~

As it turns out, when Ahsoka blushes, her skin goes from the nice warm orange it usually is to a flaming burnt sienna, over most of her face and neck, and her _montrals_ go darker too. Which he had not expected.

Not that it _matters_ , really, but still. Interesting.

Understandably, she seems done with… whatever that was, has her head on his shoulder, heavy and _quieter_ , and this is- this is actually more dangerous, her this _close_ , snuggled against him, comfortable-seeming despite his armor.

Yeah, he’s being _kriffing_ stupid - he leaves his bucket off, because Cody will tell him the same thing, in no uncertain terms - but they’re trapped in the dark and Echo is dying and Ahsoka hates small spaces and she’s _hurt_ so. So this is fine. Right?

 _No it kriffing isn’t_.

She sighs, drowsy (and Rex should go help get them out of here, they need to get off this planet where Kix can treat her), and he thinks her breathing is slowing, thinks- she’s falling asleep.

 _Haar’chak_ , he has to stop letting this happen.

And yet, here he is.

He sighs and shifts so her head isn’t right against the edge of his pauldron, pulls his knees up and rests his arm on them, stares into the dust-hazed space around them and tries not to think about Tarkin, or what Cody’s gonna say, or how… how, kriff it, _cute_ Commander Tano had looked, or any of it.

If he just sits, and doesn’t think, maybe this is all fine.

~~~

Beta sits loose against the wall, curls around Alpha’s head in his lap and watches his _ori’vod’s_ chest rise and fall, soft and shallow but steady. Alpha’s eyes are closed, asleep, the pain meds finally kicking in, and Beta wants to comb his fingers through his thick black hair, soothing at least, if nothing else. But he doesn’t, because Captain Tarkin is here, not too far away, and the captain has always hated it when the clones show affection for each other, when they act like _people._ Tarkin prefers the clones to _not_ be people, to be something less, something small and easily forgotten.

Beta will not be small. Beta will not be _forgotten,_ will not let Alpha be forgotten, left behind on this rock. Beta doesn’t care so much for _himself,_ but his _ori’vod_ is the most important thing, his _ori’vod_ should survive. Alpha deserves better than to be entombed on some hot, dry, dusty lump of rock deep in Separatist space, where no one will ever know his name.

Tarkin is _angry_ by Captain Rex’s words, by that whole conversation; it makes Beta want to flinch away, to tuck himself in a niche of rock and hold his brother and not have to look at the captain, the one who thinks that clones are bred to be tortured and die. Even if he’s right. (Beta does not like the fact that Tarkin somehow avoided torture, when all of _them_ took the electrostaff. It is not right, not _fair--_ but, Beta reminds himself, he is a clone. Fairness doesn’t come into the equation.)

He scoots across the rocky floor so he’s farther away from Tarkin, nearer Click and Hang-up, says, “Captain Tarkin will try to have Captain Rex reconditioned for that.”

Click makes an angry face. “He’ll _try,”_ he growls.

“If he brings it up to GAR high brass, none of us, none of the Jedi, can stop him,” and that’s Hang-up. “What Commander Tano was talking about, in the fuel pipe, that’s a technicality. A loophole. The GAR doesn’t _care_ about loopholes.”

“I _know_ that,” says Beta. “But I think we should… talk to General Skywalker about it.” He wants General Skywalker to be _his General,_ wants to serve under Commander Tano (she _healed_ his _ori’vod,_ said she was glad to, spent her energy and now she’s hurt) and Captain Rex. He thinks (knows) Alpha feels the same way.

“I agree.” Click clenches his fists and grits his teeth. “I don’t _like_ this.” Beta knows his _vod_ isn’t referring to the reconditioning (though none of them like that, either) but rather to being trapped in a cave.

Hang-up nods agreement. “If the clankers figure out our location, we’re dead. Kriffed.”

Which is very true. “I trust the Generals,” Beta tells them, firm. “Especially Skywalker. He’ll get us out of this alive.”

“What if he doesn’t?” It’s Click. “What if we lose Alpha and Echo?”

“We _won’t,”_ snaps Beta, hard and sharp and fast. They won’t. “We won’t lose anyone else.”

Hang-up shifts. “We don’t know that, Beta, _vod.”_

“I believe it.”

“‘S not the same thing.”

“It’s enough, though.” Beta takes a careful breath. “We’ll get out, and Alpha, and Echo, and Fives and all the rest. Trust me.” He’s no shiny, he’s been in the 431st as long as Hang-up. He knows how to read a situation.

He knows this is hopeless.

He won’t _let it be._

 _“Gar serim, vod,”_ Click says finally, heavy, like the words are weighted with the tons of rock holding them prisoner here. “Alright.”

He nods. Looks over at the Captain and the Commander, sees Commander Tano has fallen asleep with her head soft on Captain Rex’s shoulder, curled into his side like she wants to share his skin, breathing deep and regular. And General Kenobi is still kneeling beside Echo, hands held out over the ARC-lieutenant’s broken, battered body, a faint blue-light glow flickering around him like a crystalline holoprojection, his eyes closed and face serene. Beta has never _seen_ a Jedi pour so much of their _self_ into just a clone, like General Kenobi is just a vessel for the brightness around him (the Force?) breathing life and warmth back into Echo’s hollowed-out chest.

And _General Kenobi_ of all people. Jedi Master, part of the Jedi Council, _the Negotiator,_ a legend. General of one of the two most elite battalions in the entire GAR. _The Negotiator_ is backlit in blue and working his way careful-slow through Echo’s injuries, stitching up the rents and tears in his soul.

Beta thinks that this Jedi General would give up his life for any of them, and he is not sure what to do with that fact.

~~~

Lieutenant Hang-up is not a particularly- _conventional_ officer. Tarkin calls it _not good_ , fairly often, but Hang-up just isn't good at doing things the _same way_ other Lieutenants do them.

Like Ketch always puts on his leg armor first, then the rest, which makes sense except obviously it makes _more_ sense and is faster to do the cuirass and belt first.

And Hang up knows _that_ was not the point of what he was thinking. Not a conventional officer. Right.

Right, he's not a conventional officer, but Captain Rex… Captain Rex was being _unconventional_ in another sense altogether. And _technically_ , by the book (which Hang-up knows back to front, thank you very much, knows every reg, every loophole, every little subsection and special case, so he knows it's all useless because the GAR doesn't care about some technicality that you found in the index and they're very clear about that), by the book Captain Rex was talking to an equal, not a superior.

But that is not how things work in the Grand Army of the Republic.

At least ARC trooper Fives has been distracting Captain Tarkin every few minutes, so Tarkin has missed some of the _definitely_ _not regulation_ interaction happening between Captain Rex and Commander Tano. It's the kind of shit Commander Ato (marginally better than Tarkin, if only because he was always afraid the clones would beat the shit out of him) would have turned a blind eye to but that Captain Tarkin would manage to blow up into a reconditioning-worthy offense.

(Hang-up likes Commander Cody so much better than Commander Ato, even though he's only met him once before, on Felucia - and no, not like the dumb saying _I met them on Felucia_ , he literally met Cody there on a campaign, thanks - because Commander Cody is responsible and smart and doesn't think everyone else is beneath him.)

What was he supposed to be thinking about? He doesn't remember, he's lost track of his _vode’s_ conversation again.

Turns out it doesn't matter (although he still puzzles about it an extra moment) because Tarkin has things of his own to say. “What are you lot whispering about?” he asks, sharply, and Hang-up pulls himself to _focusing_ , sits up straight (and ah, _kark_ , his back burns and the skin catches on his uniform, _gods_ just breathe). “Shouldn't you be helping clear that rubble?” Tarkin says that as if he is not the only uninjured one among them, as if they're all lazy, and Hang-up wishes he could say something biting, like Captain Rex - but he is a Lieutenant, and smart. It's his job to keep his men, his _vode_ , from making dumb mistakes.

“We tried to help, sir,” he says, smoothly. “The Generals wouldn't let us.” Even General Piell, whose chief solutions to most problems is to muscle through with pure grit and stubbornness, had gruffly waved them off when they'd tried to help. Hang-up is intensely grateful for that, despite himself. He _hurts_ \- but his _vod’ike_ , the last of his battalion, they had the worst of it and they need the rest.

Captain Tarkin’s eyes flick over to the Generals, hard at work, and General Kenobi (who is _glowing, kriff,_ General Piell has never done _that_ before, Hang-up wonders how it works-), and then Captain Rex, who is sitting surprisingly casually, but with the Commander slumped against his side, mouth partly open. (Captain Rex looks as if he has no idea she's even there; Tarkin will find nothing to complain about there that he hasn't already.) Then the captain spears Hang-up with his coldest glare and says, “Enough chatter. I thought the concern was that you were well-rested, and you'll hardly get rest gossiping like a bunch of Twi’lek mothers.”

“Yes, sir,” Hang-up says. Fives makes an audible huffing sound from where he's sitting on the other side of Captain Tarkin, although Hang-up sees he's fiddling with his kama and mostly watching Echo and Kenobi.

No one has asked Fives to help move the rocks, although Hang-up thinks the ARC trooper will go help. It's just surprising to him that they haven't asked when the trooper isn't injured.

(It's only because he's afraid for his _ori’vod,_ and what would that be like?)

A short while later, in the silence, Commander Cody stops hefting stone and comes over, grips Fives’ shoulder, and tugs off his own helmet. He's got a scar and _damn_ it's a cool scar, where'd he get it, is it real? Hang-up should ask, he's curious enough to, but- He needs to focus.

Fives gets up, strides over to the Generals, and picks up where Commander Cody left off.

And Commander Cody gives Tarkin and indecipherable look and a nod, then goes to sit down by Captain Rex.

Hang-up can't figure Commander Cody’s face out.

~~~

Ahsoka drifts.

Contrary to her appearance, she’s not totally asleep (unfortunately, she’d like to be); instead, she’s drowsing, cuddling closer to Rex’s side and letting his nearness soothe her into _calm._ Everything is slow and lazy and fuzzy, time slipping by in great spurts, starting and stopping, jerky and rushed and uncertain.

She has no idea how long it is before she feels Rex shift beneath her, hears him say, soft, “Hey, Cody.”

“Hey, _ori’vod,”_ someone, she thinks probably Cody, says back, and Ahsoka lets out a breath and leans heavier into Rex’s side. Why won’t he just be _quiet?_ She wants to _sleep._ “Rex, you gotta _stop_ encouraging her. You’re just gonna make it worse when you back off again.”

What? None of that makes _sense._ What does he _mean,_ encouraging her? Encouraging who? “I _know,_ Cody,” says Rex, tiredly defensive, but almost like he can’t totally muster the energy. “I’m _trying,_ but she’s scared and tired and hurting, and…” He breaks off with a sigh, shaking his head, and Ahsoka hums a bit and tucks herself closer, wishes she could do more, but she has a feeling if they knew she could hear they’d stop talking. And she doesn’t actually want them to stop, now. She’s… curious, really, and also Rex’s voice is _nice,_ low and quiet, and she could listen to him talk for a long time.

“But nothing, _ori’vod,_ you’re just hurting yourself worse, every time you pull this shit.”

Rex exhales loudly, a gust of air, and she tightens her arm around him. “I know,” he says, heavy, shifts. “She’s afraid she’s dead weight, Cody.”

For some reason, the Force twists at that, and she thinks Cody probably feels very _tired._ The Force around him does, at least. “I heard you fighting with Tarkin. If you aren’t careful, Rex, he’ll get you reconditioned. You _know_ sitting with her like this is walking that line.”

“He’s been sniping at her all mission,” Rex growls, sounds almost _protective,_ and that’s nice, she likes that.

“Rex.” Cody sounds frustrated, and also worried. “I am _not_ losing my best friend because you have the karking self-preservation instincts of an _ik’aad.”_

Ahsoka shifts, keeps her eyes closed, because she’s _sleepy,_ murmurs, “What’s _ik’aad_ mean?” Cody _swears,_ explosively, and she cracks one eye open to look at him for a moment before sighing and closing it again. “I wouldn’t let Tarkin do that, y’know,” she mumbles, sleepily. “Recondition him. ‘S stupid.”

~~~

Rex _jerks_ , he doesn't mean to, and Ahsoka whines, pained. Kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff. He runs back over his and Cody’s conversation in his head, and it's not… not as bad as it could be, but _aw kriff_.

“ _Gar shu’shuk_ , _ori’vod_ ,” Rex snarls, narrowing his eyes. This time, the slip-up isn't on him.

“ _Ni kar’tayli_ ,” Cody growls, just as fierce. “ _Ne’johaa_.”

“What’re you talking about?” Ahsoka grumbles, easing both eyes open this time, and _little gods_ _kriff him_ he's kriffed, he's so kriffed.

Cody shoves himself to his feet and jams his bucket back on his head, marching away to sit down with Lieutenant Hang-up and the others. Leaving Rex alone with Ahsoka. Aw, _kriff Cody_ , kriff this _whole karking thing_ , what's he supposed to do now?

“Never mind, Commander,” he says, gently. Maybe if he can get her back to sleep she'll think it was a dream?

“Why did Cody tell you to shut up?” she presses, curiously, wriggling into his side with a little huff.

“I said _never mind_ , Commander,” Rex says, doesn't _quite_ manage to sound as calm as he meant to. _Please for the love of the little gods go back to sleep_.

But Ahsoka doesn't know about the little gods, so instead she just hums, says, “He's dumb,” with all the surety of someone who's known Cody for ages. “Master and I'll keep you safe, won't let Tarkin do anything to you.”

“That's nice, sir, thanks,” he says wryly. (But really, Tarkin and Cody are right - the Jedi don't have authority in the day-to-day of the GAR, so what could they really do?) “You gotta rest.”

Ahsoka hums a little, tilts her head (and her montrals, cool and smooth, hit him in the ear, which is kinda funny except he's still scared she's going to actually ask about what they were saying), and closes her eyes again. “Yeah, ‘m really nice,” she says sleepily and _damn_ her for being so _cute_ and also _awake_.

He can't talk to her again after this, _ever_ , _shit_ , if she _asks_ -

Better not to let that happen.

~~~

The Force hums cool and silken against his skin, like the wind, like a river, like _life;_ Obi-Wan swims through its currents and directs the energy, raw and tingling, into Echo’s body with all the finesse he can manage. He’s getting _tired,_ and his control is starting to weaken, which means he should probably pull back.

But Echo is barely clinging to life, or _was,_ at least; Obi-Wan thinks he has managed to get Echo to a place where the ARC-trooper will survive getting _off_ Lola Soyu, but if he is to make a full recovery (which is doubtful, there’s a good chance he’ll need cybernetic implants of some sort to survive, especially with his leg the way it is) then more healing is needed.

So Obi-Wan sinks ever-deeper into the layers of the Force and knits together skin and bone and muscle, drives away infections.

A hand on his shoulder snaps him out of the meditation, and it’s when he falls the short distance to the ground that he realizes just _how_ deep he’d gone. And they still have a great deal of fighting to do. Kriff. Probably _not_ the smartest idea he’s ever had.

The hand on his shoulder is attached to an arm, dark sleeves, meaning Anakin. Of _course._ “Master, you’re going to overextend yourself.”

“How long was I under?” he asks, instead, ignoring the statement, and he closes his eyes again, runs a hand down the length of Echo’s body, a few centimeters above the blackened armor, checking the process of the healing. He’s done good work, but it won’t be _enough_ if they don’t get off this rock soon.

“An hour,” says Anakin, sheepishly. “We’ve almost got the cave-in completely cleared.”

That snaps his eyes back open. “Cave-in?”

“Oh, right, you were already under.” Anakin sighs. “Yeah, some of the stalagmites holding the ceiling up gave out and got us stuck in here, but we’re almost to a point we can get out.”

“Have you rested at all?”

“No?” He shifts. “But I’m in the best shape out of all of us--”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan interrupts, patiently, “you were electrocuted while hanging from a ceiling.”

“Well, shut up, you haven’t rested either!”

Obi-Wan pushes himself to his feet, tiredly, runs a hand over his face. “I would like to take a look at Alpha before we move on.”

“We hardly have _time_ for that,” says Captain Tarkin, and honestly, Obi-Wan is nearly out of patience. Which is impressive. After all, he taught _Anakin Skywalker._

He turns, gives the (frankly insufferable) man a sharp look. “There is a skill known as _prioritization,_ Captain Tarkin,” he says, mildly. “And I prioritize the lives of my men above most things.”

“Which is why the Jedi should not be leading this war. Your _Code_ prevents you from doing whatever it takes to win.”

“Compassion is hardly a fault of Code,” Obi-Wan says, despite the fact that compassion is, indeed, one of the central tenets of the Jedi Code. “I would call it concern for sentient life,” and he crosses the cave to crouch down by Alpha and Beta. “May I, Beta?”

Beta blinks, looks _shocked._ “Um. Yes, sir?” Like he would never in a million years expect this.

Alpha is awake, pale and clammy and clearly in pain, but there’s an almost excited light in his eyes. “Sir,” he rasps, “General Kenobi, sir, I’m okay, I can--take it.”

Before Obi-Wan can answer this, Tarkin speaks again, haughty and imperious. “Clones are hardly what one could call _sentient life,_ General Kenobi. In fact--”

Perhaps it is a _bit_ unethical, but Obi-Wan is quite _tired_ of listening to Captain Tarkin. “Oh, do be _silent,”_ he says, very mildly, but with the weight of the Force behind his words, and Tarkin gapes at him. Tries to speak, stares harder, eyes going wide. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Alpha. I don’t doubt your ability to handle pain,” he says, gently, “but you don’t _need_ to.”

“Sir,” and that’s the lieutenant, Hang-up, “did you just--how did you do that?”

“Don’t worry about it, trooper,” Obi-Wan says, lightly, smiling so Hang-up knows he’s not angry. “It’s nothing. I just grew tired of engaging in uncivilized conversation.”

And he extends his hands over Alpha’s side, frowning. This isn’t good--the injury is infected, and repeated electric shock certainly hasn’t helped. “Does anyone happen to have bacta patches with them?”

There’s silence, and he grits his teeth. Right. Well, this is going to make things _difficult._

~~~

Alpha really likes watching the news on the HoloNet for the latest news about the _best_ Jedi General (and the star of his _favorite_ holodrama), _the_ General Anakin Skywalker. Now that his _hero_ is in the same _cave_ as him, he can’t really look at him, it’s too embarrassing. But General Kenobi isn’t much _better_ , holy _kriff_ . General Kenobi is almost as cool, and he’s just _shut up_ the captain. Alpha is going to remember this whole thing for ages, even though- even though it’s shitty, and it’s humiliating that he’s injured and less than useless. But also that means _General Kenobi_ is _healing_ him so, that’s kind of cool.

Beta gives him a sassy look, like he knows _exactly_ what Alpha is thinking- which he probably does, Alpha has talked about both Generals… a lot of times. He never means to, they’re just really great Generals, everyone knows, and _General Skywalker_ has won _so many_ battles and his casualty numbers are some of the lowest in the GAR (Alpha looked it up because no way could a General win that much without sacrificing a _lot_ of men, but- but somehow General Skywalker did _all of it_ ).

General Kenobi extends his hands over Alpha’s side, and Alpha braces himself for that weird itching feeling again, but there isn’t much of that. Just an intense warmth and something that feels _clean_ and a little crawling under his skin.

Still kriffing _weird_.

Captain Tarkin looks angry enough that Alpha thinks he’s able to talk again, but isn’t because General Kenobi would shut him up again. Alpha looks away from Karkin’ Tarkin (damn Click is _funny_ ) so he can resist the urge to smirk at him. Captain Rex’s painkillers are pretty strong.

“Master,” and _kriff_ , General Skywalker is _right here_. He’s gotta be professional. “You’re overextending yourself, for kriff’s sake.”

Kenobi pulls his hands back with a sigh, twists and gives General Skywalker a tiredly exasperated look. “I am _fine_ , Anakin, I know what I’m doing.”

All the same, Kenobi doesn’t put his hands back, and Alpha sighs. His side feels less hot and painful, at least. Which is a lot better than he’d expected.

“Sir,” Beta says, “General Skywalker, Alpha thinks you’re the best General in the GAR.” Oh no, _Beta_ , shut _up_ . _Little gods_ . Alpha has nowhere to look that isn’t the Generals except for over at Captain Tarkin, which is a bad idea, or Beta, who’s _smirking_. He hates Beta. “He won’t shut up about you or your casualty rates.”

Captain Tarkin makes a disapproving noise in the back of his throat. “Clone trooper Beta, please restrain yourself.”

 _Yeah, ori’vod_ , Alpha thinks, glares at Beta. “ _Ne’johaa,_ Beta.”

“I liked you better when you were being silent, Tarkin,” General Skywalker says, and Alpha doesn’t mean to, but he grins (Tarkin’s gonna give him dish detail for weeks, shit), looks over at General Skywalker. “He can talk if he wants. Not so sure about you.”

Captain Tarkin gapes like a fish, pasty and _stupid_ , and General Skywalker looks down and catches Alpha’s eye, grinning.

This is the best day of Alpha’s life. Beta can go suck a mynock egg.

“Sir,” Alpha says, carefully, and pretends he doesn’t see General Kenobi hiding a smile in his ginger beard. “How do you win so much without, y’know, kriffing _awful_ casualty numbers?”

Skywalker shrugs, grins wider. “I’m just a genius, Alpha.”

“ _Anakin_ ,” Kenobi says, chidingly.

Skywalker shrugs again, shoots Kenobi a snarky look, and Alpha’s eyes widen. They’re _bantering_ . In real life. And it’s _way_ funnier than in the holodrama.

He should pull it together, he’s being such a _kid_.

It’s just- This is _so cool_.

Beta pats his shoulder, and when Alpha looks at him, winks. Alpha scowls. He’s still mad at his dumb _ori’vod_ . He would have liked to seem more- well- kriff, he doesn’t know. _Impressive_ sounds too vain. He should… probably just stop.

“Well, whatever it is, sir,” he says, “It’s great.”

General Skywalker winks at him, _which is insane,_ and says, “I know.”

Never once in his short life did Alpha think that his _hero_ , a _Jedi General_ , would be grinning at him like they’re sharing a- a joke. Like _normal people_ , like _vode_ even.

He wants to grab Beta and say, “this is absolutely _crazy_ ” but that would not be appropriate.

He blames Captain Rex’s painkillers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Mando'a translations:**
> 
>  
> 
>  _ne'johaa:_ shut up
> 
>  _gar serim:_ you're right
> 
>  _ik'aad:_ baby, child under 3 years
> 
>  _gar shu'shuk:_ your mess/screw-up
> 
>  _ni kar'tayli:_ i know


	4. Chapter 4

Fives is  _ mostly _ ignoring the way everyone’s gathering around Alpha and Beta, including Generals Skywalker and Kenobi (not including the two 212th troopers still left and General Piell, who are finishing up the work on the cave-in); instead, he sits with his hands on the rocky floor, on either side of Echo’s head, breathes  _ in and out, in and out _ and tries to think. To stay calm. He  _ has _ to stay calm, for his  _ ori’vod. _

“We’ve clear,” General Piell calls, and Fives takes a deep breath and pushes himself to his feet, hefts Echo into his arms and strides for the entrance to the cave. 

“Let’s move!” That’s General Kenobi, and he’s right. They’ve got to  _ go. _ This hour was… a respite they weren’t expecting to receive. “I’m going to comm the Council.”

Fives sees Rex wander over to where Commander Tano is curled against the wall, asleep, nudge her gently awake--she blinks bleary blue eyes up at him and leans into his hand on her shoulder. It’s  _ really adorable, _ especially because Fives  _ knows _ Rex is still trying to pretend he  _ doesn’t _ think the Commander is the cutest kriffing thing in the universe. (And normally this all would be so much funnier, but Echo is unconscious and burned in Fives’ arms and Fives himself is exhausted and they’re trapped with no way offworld.)

As Fives follows his Generals out of the cave entrance, he hears Kenobi saying, “We’ve had a  _ situation _ with the shuttle.”

“By  _ situation _ he means  _ big explosion,” _ Skywalker clarifies, and Fives snorts.

_ “We’ll send a team to extract you,” _ someone who sounds like General Plo says, crackling and staticky.  _ “The rendezvous point will be this island.” _

Fives takes a careful look at the map blinking up from Kenobi’s wristcomm and frowns, sharply. That’s gonna be kriffing  _ hard _ to get to.

Great. They’ve got several injured and they’re trying to get to an island a full kilometer at  _ least _ from their current position, and not to mention an island in the kriffing  _ middle of the lava flow. _ Why the kriff. How’s he supposed to get Echo across--probably steel cables, stretched across  _ kriffing lava. _ Lava! And he  _ knows _ what Tarkin would say, but he is  _ not _ leaving Echo behind. Kriff Tarkin. 

At least he’s not Beta, having to lug his  _ ori’vod _ across the rocks for ages in kriffing  _ blacks. _

Or Rex, who’s got the Commander, who shouldn’t even  _ be here _ because like  _ hells _ Kix cleared her for this, she can’t  _ climb _ on that leg, and the fact that she  _ tried _ means she’s probably karking  _ reinjured herself. _ Kriffing  _ jare’la _ Jedi.

Why do they  _ always do this? _

~~~

Finally they can get out of this  _ kriffing _ cave in the dark and, he hopes, off this planet. The problem is, now that they’re moving again, he has to wake Ahsoka up. And carry her, because he is  _ not _ letting her walk.

It’s just-

_ Force _ he hopes she thinks she was dreaming.

He goes over to her, leans over and jostles her shoulder a little, gentle. He doesn’t like that blaster wound in her gut, but between Echo’s… everything and Alpha’s brutalized side, Kenobi’s expended a lot of energy, so he supposes all she gets for now is painkillers. Little gods, he wishes Kix were here.

Ahsoka tilts into him and blinks slowly awake, revealing those blue eyes (sunlight on the water on Kamino, he decides, it’s that color), unfocused and pupils wide in the dark.

“Hey, sir,” Rex says, awkwardly. “We’re moving out again.”

She blinks a couple times, shakes her head, winces. “Oh.” She draws her legs up close to her, sets her hands on the ground, and Rex decides to preempt her stupidity.

Bends down, slides his arms under her shoulders and knees, and straightens smooth and fast (she squeaks like a loth-cat, closes her eyes tight against, against pain) and he sighs. “Sorry. You’re not walking.”

It must hurt worse now, because her protest is mostly just a grumble and then silence, and she curls one hand over his winged pauldron to hold on. He adjusts his arms (he’s so tired, he doesn’t know how he’s going to manage this), sighs and strides over to General Skywalker.

“Is she okay?” General Skywalker says, his face twisted with worry.

“‘M fine,” answers Ahsoka. Which is so  _ obviously _ banthashit that none of them even bother pointing it out.

“We just have to get to the new rendezvous.” Skywalker nods to Kenobi’s holoprojector. “Then we can get you to a medbay, Snips.”

“‘S okay, it doesn’t hurt,”  _ banthashit _ , “I can still… help…”

_ Little gods kriffing damn it _ . Rex scowls behind the safety of his helmet, because doesn’t she  _ get it? _ No one here except for that  _ chakaar _ Tarkin thinks she’s a burden (although in the very literal sense she’s one to him,  _ kriff _ she’s heavier than she looks).

“Snips, you’ve done enough. You’ve been a big help - you’re okay to rest now,” Skywalker says,  _ very _ gentle. (Maybe more than Rex has ever heard him.)

Ahsoka shifts a tiny bit, tightens her grip on Rex’s pauldron. “‘Kay, Skyguy.”

Thank the little gods.

Rex falls in behind Skywalker, stays as far from Tarkin as he can reasonably get without abandoning his General, and pushes all the exhaustion and soreness and worry and… other things into a corner of his mind, clings to readiness.

It’s still a  _ long _ trek they have to make, but- but they’re close. There’s a plan.

He’s made it this far. Maybe he’s going to survive again after all.

That’d be… good, probably.

~~~

Click is  _ exhausted. _

He hadn’t let himself sleep while they were in the cave, even though he’d  _ wanted to, _ because he didn’t want to hear the comments Tarkin would make. Comments like  _ no responsible soldier would sleep on a mission _ and  _ I know you’ve trained to fight while sleep-deprived, troopers--do you mean to imply you are defective or improperly trained? _ Comments that mean  _ reconditioning _ if you aren’t careful.

And once they get off Lola Soyu, Click is pretty sure Karkin’ Tarkin’s going to want to get  _ several _ of them reconditioned. Alpha for the crime of  _ surviving, _ probably; Captain Rex for defending Commander Tano (and being entirely too close to her, even  _ flirting _ with her, which would be really funny if Tarkin wasn’t here); maybe even Hang-up, for that comment when General Kenobi made Tarkin stop talking. Click doesn’t want to see his  _ vode _ reconditioned, ever. Doesn’t want to be reconditioned  _ himself. _

So he doesn’t sleep, and he stays wide awake and keeps watch as they trek through a dark space, columns of stacked rocks twisting up to the shadowed ceiling, lava puddling in large pools and flowing languid and lazy and sluggish through the stone floor. Click clutches the blaster Captain Rex had given him and wishes almost  _ desperately _ for his armor--but he hadn’t even been wearing it when they’d been boarded, unlike Alpha and Beta, so they didn’t strip it from him. Which is… good, he should think, since that means at least he’s not stuck in his blacks, but…

Click shakes his head, tiredly, shifts and takes a watch position. The Generals have stopped for the moment, are having a discussion of some sort, and he eyes Fives for a moment--the ARC-trooper’s given Hang-up one of his blasters, because he can’t really fight much with Echo cradled in his arms like something precious, and neither can Beta, so there’s no point in giving  _ Beta _ a blaster. 

It’s really not good that they’re down both ARC-troopers  _ and _ Captain Rex.

Because the Captain has Commander Tano curled in his arms, is holding her careful and soft, because between her leg being kriffed up and a karking blaster burn on her  _ stomach, _ she can’t really hang onto his back like she’d done for the climb up the ladder, in the fuel pipe. Which means that the Captain can  _ maybe _ use his one remaining blaster.

Speaking of Rex’s blasters, Click looks down at the one in settled heavy and comforting in his palm--a modified DC-17, he thinks, probably nonregulation mods, but  _ nice ones. _ He might just--well, actually, he wouldn’t, because he’s pretty sure the Captain would kriffing  _ murder him. _ But he wouldn’t mind having a DC or two of his own, modded like this.

And then there’s the distinctive sound of those  _ karking di’kutla _ commando droids, and blasterfire, and Click whirls to see three commandos approaching Commander Cody’s position at high speed.  _ Shit. _ Cody starts firing  _ fast _ and accurate as he backs away, manages to hit one commando in the knee-joint, making it trip and pitch into a lava flow; Click fumbles with one of the pouches at his waist and pulls out a charge, arms it, runs forward and drops to a knee and rolls it, casual, careful. Cody grabs his arm,  _ jerks _ him back, and the two of them end up in an undignified tumble of limbs on the ground, swearing bitterly and  _ aching. _

Ow. Kriff it, but those rocks feel  _ great _ stabbing into the multitude of electric burns crackling over his skin.

~~~

Rex  _ hates _ that he can’t do much more than  _ get out of the way _ when the commandos show up; sure, Cody’s got this, and Click, and it doesn’t take long to deal with the threat (this part of it, these frontrunners), but he needs to be able to help if things go pear-shaped.

Or, more so than they already have.

“No doubt there’s more on the way,” Kenobi says, helpfully.

So they have to move. Kenobi and Skywalker break into a run (the diminutive Master, Piell, actually oustripping them both), and so of course, they must all follow suit.

Even Captain Tarkin, who as it turns out, is just as good at running as Rex would expect. Too good.

Ahsoka puts her arms around his neck and holds on, which makes it easier, but not much - she’s visibly, audibly struggling against sounds of pain. Rex can’t avoid jolting her, not if he wants to run fast enough, so he has to ignore it, focus on Skywalker’s back in front of him and not dropping her.

Slowly the twisting piles and spires of rock give way to steep cliff faces above and below them (and Rex remembers waiting crouched on stone for her and Kenobi to come into view so he could-  _ not this _ , not right now), and they’re running along a narrow path, lava and stone spread out below them.

The Generals know the terrain, have this planned, so when they come to the edge of a cliff with nowhere to go, there’s speed but no panic - even when crab droids start scrambling down the cliffs above them and ranks of commandos start approaching on the path they just left.

“Ascension cables!” Kenobi orders, and Skywalker gives an order to his astromech to hold off the enemy with his weird little squad of B1s.

Rex has an ascension cable.

Rex needs to scale down a cliff face carrying his Commander.

He grits his teeth, taps Ahsoka’s arm. “Sir, I need to carry you on my back so we can get down this cliff.”

She whimpers a little, screws her eyes shut, and Rex lets go of her legs, eases her down onto her foot (at least she’s actually _staying_ _off_ the other leg without him scolding), and twists, ignores (tries to) her yelp of pain and the following soft moan when he hefts her onto his back. “You’re gonna have to hang on,” he says.

His helmet feels too tight and hot and he wants it  _ off _ .

There’s the sound of four ascension cables being anchored in the stone, loud and harsh, his among them, and Ahsoka’s arms and legs tighten around him. He goes to the edge with his General as the first blaster bolts start flying at them, hesitates just a second (for Ahsoka’s sake, he tells himself), and then tilts over the edge to rappel down. He wishes he couldn’t hear the little hurting sounds Ahsoka’s making; as it is, he has to pack it all away, tight,  _ focus, focus _ \- it’s hard.

He focuses on a foot at a time, on keeping his balance and not on his  _ vode _ or his Generals, and the one nice thing about rappelling like this is that he can see them getting closer to the ground so he knows the exact distance when he can stop worrying that a fall would kill him.

Ahsoka, though- he’s not sure.

Never mind that.

By the time they reach the bottom, one of R2-D2’s blue-painted clankers has plummeted past them, down into the lava, and there are blaster bolts flying from above, but they all make it to the bottom fine and Rex swallows, sets Ahsoka partly down so he can pick her up back in his arms again, and she’s quieter this time. Not by much.

“Can you put your arms around my neck?” he asks, heavily, “Hold yourself up a little?” The droids are closer and he needs to be able to shoot and his arms  _ hurt _ .

She does, thankfully not so tight it makes it hard to breathe or move, and it’s a relief to fumble his blaster into his palm, to have only its smaller, comfortable weight in his hand.

And then they have to run again.

~~~

Ahsoka is  _ exhausted, _ hurting and small and cold and scared and  _ hurting. _ Every time Rex takes a step it feels like something molten and fiery burns through her leg, and her stomach  _ throbs _ with scorching pain when she breathes. He has his blaster in his right hand, now, relying on her arms looped around his neck to keep her balanced, and she leans heavy into his chest and tries to swallow her whimpers.

And then something sharp and shrieking hisses through the air and shivers through her montrals and she swallows  _ hard, _ gasps in a ragged breath and says, “What’s that?”

“Anubas,” says Master Piell, through gritted teeth. “If they’ve caught our scent, it’s too late.”

“They’ll lead the clankers right to us,” Fives growls.

“We have to keep moving.” That’s Cody.

“Indeed,” Obi-Wan says, though he looks tired. 

They keep running for a little while longer, and Ahsoka bites down on her lip to stifle a swear, clings to Rex’s winged pauldron with one hand and tries to block out the screeches just a hair too high-pitched to be comfortable. She doesn’t really pay close attention to their surroundings; knows they’re running besides a heavy lava flow, lacy arcs of stone over their heads, lava falls and currents cutting through the rock beneath their feet, heat and sulfur radiating up from the molten magma. But eventually someone says, “They’re getting closer,” and she listens and realizes that’s  _ true, _ the anubas’ cries are sharper, piercing her montrals like sharpened shards of glass, and louder too.

They’re going to have to fight again, then.

“The cave,” she says soft and raspy, lets go of Rex’s pauldron for long enough to gesture to the expanse of looped stone to her right before grabbing on again. “We could--hide in it, let them pass, attack their flank.”

“Good idea, Snips,” Anakin says approvingly, and she manages a tiny tired smile at him. “I’ll distract them.”

Obi-Wan clears his throat, meaningfully.

“... and Obi-Wan, of course.”

Of course.

She manages another little smile, because they’ve stopped walking for a moment and everything feels so much  _ better _ when they aren’t moving, but she’d  _ really really _ like more pain meds, and…

And Rex nods and steps into the shadows thrown by the rock columns, and she swallows hard. Doesn’t want to suggest this, because she  _ hurts, _ and this is stupid and she doesn’t  _ want to, _ she wants to stay in Rex’s arms where she’s warm and safe, but. But this is war and  _ we do what we must, _ one of the Masters tells her, and  _ how many men? _

“Give me some more painkillers,” she tells Rex, quiet. “This is--you’ll--need me. They need you too. To fight. I can fight if I have some meds.”

~~~

He  _ can’t _ . She’s  _ hurt _ and he doesn’t want to let her make it worse, to fight like this because it is a risk, such a risk. But the droids are coming, and the hunters, and if the two of them can’t fight, then their strike team is down two of their best.

It’s  _ necessary _ , she’s right, they need them- but  _ gods _ .

Rex clenches his jaw, nods, and slowly, slowly sets her down, leaves his arm around her shoulders (and  _ kriff _ , she’s breathing so  _ harsh _ ), and fumbles in his belt for the rest of his painkillers, presses them into her palm. At least he has them this time.

She can’t really stand up straight, but she dry-swallows the offered pills with a grimace, unhooks both sabers from her belt and nods at him.

He feels- feels like this is  _ goodbye _ , almost, which he wants to dismiss as stupid except there’s just enough of a possibility-

He can’t do that, so he lifts his blaster, checks the firing mechanism, nods over at Click like  _ you can hang onto that _ (even though he wishes he had both his DCs, that always feels better), and realizes all his  _ vode _ are staring at them, mostly at his Commander.

“Move it, troopers,” he says, gruff. “We have our orders.”

Skywalker and Kenobi take off with Skywalker’s astromech, and Rex and his  _ vode _ and his Commander (he  _ hates _ this) follow General Piell through the stone to the small cave Ahsoka had noticed. They all crouch down, pressed back against the wall, Piell in front, Tarkin huddled somewhere in the middle. Ahsoka leans hard against him, on her good leg, her sabers held tight and ready.

Rex does not like waiting.

The eerie howls of the anubas send chills up and down his spine, especially as they get nearer, his animal instincts saying to be still, still, still until the danger is passed. So he does, balances on the balls of his feet and rubs his thumb over the casing of his blaster where it sits heavy in his hand, and he’s ready. Ready to fight if this doesn’t work, because his  _ vode _ are all hurt and Ahsoka is- Ahsoka is not  _ good _ and they need him.

When the anubas run past, first one and then all the rest in a snarling, jostling pack, Rex automatically, without meaning to, shifts towards Ahsoka like he could huddle into her for support except no, because she isn’t strong enough for that. He eases a little in front of her instead, waits- but there is no need, because Kenobi and Skywalker are doing their job, luring the beasts on, and suddenly the pack is gone and they can breathe again.

~~~

As soon as the pack of anubas is gone, Master Piell stands, gestures them out of the cave; Ahsoka stands slowly, leaning a little into Rex’s side as she does, and then slowly easing her weight onto her bad leg.

Even with the painkillers, her leg  _ screams, _ and she mutters a Huttese curse, tightens her fingers around her saber hilts until her knuckles turn white, and she takes a sharp jagged breath and closes her eyes as the world spins. 

“Are you alright, sir?” It’s Click, looking worried, and he’s offering an arm for her to lean on. “Here, let me help--you shouldn’t kriffing be standing, sir, are you  _ jare’la? _ Uh, I mean--are you  _ trying _ to get yourself killed, sir?”

She shouldn’t be thinking about this right now, but Ahsoka can’t help but smile a little in victory, because that’s another Mando’a word to add to her (admittedly very small) vocabulary. “Painkillers are a wonderful thing, Click,” she says tiredly. “No, I’m not alright, but I’m needed.”

He hesitates, looks like he wants to say something, and she raises an eyebrow, a silent invitation. “You’re--a good Commander, sir,” he says, shifts a bit, tightens his grip on Rex’s blaster. “Better than our commander was, and better than our captain.”

She hides a wince, barely. Kriff. Tarkin does  _ not _ look pleased, at all.

Click salutes, sharply, and Tarkin steps forward, and--and  _ Cody _ steps up to Click’s shoulder and sets a hand there, turns and  _ stares _ at Tarkin, very definite.

Well. Kriff. So much for not doing anything to antagonize him into  _ reconditioning. _

“Careful, Cody,” she subvocalizes, soft enough she knows Tarkin won’t be able to pick up on it, and he never wavers.

Just says, “Take your own  _ karking  _ advice. Sir.”

Well, kriff him. Click looks mildly shocked, like he’s expecting her to reprimand Cody, but she doesn’t (because he’s right), but flips him a rude hand gesture and follows Master Piell out among the twisted spires of rock, Rex at her shoulder, the rest of the troopers behind. Walking  _ hurts, _ her leg and her stomach both, but she pushes the pain aside. Grabs onto the Force for steadiness, takes a deep breath, pushes herself faster, lighter on her feet, shifting her weight  _ forward, _ ready to run. Ready to fight.

Ready.

They slink down the path they’ve been following, Master Piell in the lead, of course, and then the ground  _ shivers _ beneath her boots and she freezes, poised (ow that hurts), tilts her head to one side and  _ listens. _

There’s the faintest scratching sound.

Ahsoka  _ spins, _ shouts, “Incoming!” and leaps forward  _ (ow) _ just as the first crab droid scuttles over the edge of the cliff and starts firing, hits the 212th trooper, Dodge, and Cody lets out a strangled half-cry that sounds something like a name and starts firing, fast and accurate, and  _ kriff all of this. _ She leaps onto the  _ stupid karking clanker’s _ back and ignites her sabers midair, slashes the thing in half and flips off, lands heavy on her good leg and shifts her weight slowly to her bad one, straightens (and that stretches her blaster wound painfully, but she grits her teeth and pushes through).

There’s sounds of blasterfire and sabers from further on, where Obi-Wan and Anakin and Artoo are, and Master Piell says, “Leave this to Ahsoka and I--go help Obi-Wan,” and the troopers (except Rex, who definitely refuses) nod and start to trickle away, slowly.

Tarkin goes too, and Ahsoka engages another crab droid, deflects blaster bolts at it, though it skitters around the bolts (damn it) and lunges at her. She ducks, slides underneath it with the intention of slicing upwards with her sabers and cutting it in half, except something  _ tears _ at the wound in her side and she yelps (bites her tongue  _ hard) _ and can’t manage it, has to roll to her feet (shaky, slow, dizzy, the blood drains from her face and she can’t  _ breathe) _ and so she’s too  _ slow, _ the crab droid lunges and  _ flings _ Tarkin into a stone strut and there’s an audible  _ crack, _ the sound of something breaking, and then blasters fire and Tarkin slides boneless to the ground, choking with pain.

Before the crab droid can finish the job Rex is there, shooting it, and she has to focus, turns her attention to another droid coming at her, flips herself up onto its back and stabs through its head, uses her saber hilt as a push-off point to flip back to the ground, go down to one knee and pull her saber free (she shouldn’t have to kneel but everything  _ hurts _ and she’s lightheaded and her vision’s swimming and she almost feels like she’s about to collapse, but that can’t  _ happen _ yet). The droid tumbles to the ground in a tangle of scuttling legs and mechanics, and she pushes herself to her feet in time to see Master Piell turning away from the last glowing orange-hot droid towards her.

And there’s an anuba cresting a ridge of rock behind him.

She doesn’t even have time to  _ shout _ in warning before it’s  _ hitting him, _ the small Jedi Master, and she hears something  _ crunch _ in his neck, and no, oh no, she deactivates her sabers and hooks them to her belt and flings her hands up and  _ pushes _ and sends the beast flying off the edge of the cliff into lava, and then she’s staggering over and dropping to her knees by Master Piell’s side, gasping for every agonized breath. “Master Piell!”

He grimaces, says, “You’ve done--well, Padawan,” gasps in a breath, and he’s all twisted at wrong angles and he looks in so  _ much _ pain and oh, no. “I have to--tell you something. This information--you must tell it only to the Jedi Council.”

“Wait,” she pleads, “I should get Master Anakin or Obi-Wan, they need to hear this,” and she goes to push herself to her feet but he catches her wrist, his grip surprisingly strong even now.

“No,” he says, almost sharply. “There’s no time… you are here.”

“But I’m not supposed to be here,” she admits to him, the truth caving a hole in her chest, that’s been burning her heart ever since she realized she was just  _ slowing them down. _ “I wasn’t assigned to this mission. I lied so I could come along.”

“The Force… works in mysterious ways,” he says, a smile ghosting across his face. “Whether you were meant to be here or not, you are now the most important person.” And  _ kriff, _ but--but he must be right. “Take care of my men, Padawan Tano,” he says, steely, and she nods, swallows hard. “Now  _ listen. _ You must memorize this information…”

And so Ahsoka takes a slow breath and nods and leans down, so her montrals are just over his lips, because his voice is failing and she has to know, has to learn, and she  _ listens. _

~~~

The crab droid that slams Tarkin into stone and shoots at him (and somehow does not kill him, that time) is skittering over and ready to kill him when Rex shoots, one-two one-two one-two, till the damn thing sputters and screeches into the ground, nearly landing on top of Tarkin.

And Rex hates Tarkin, but the captain is slumped on the ground and obviously in terrible pain, and is an ally, so Rex hurries up to him, prepares himself to find a way to carry this captain along with everyone else they have to protect.

But when he gets to Tarkin, he can see, almost immediately, that this is a lost cause. Tarkin’s wheezing, crumpled, not-right, the sharp shark’s eyes glazed. Nevertheless, Rex crouches by him, scans the captain’s form. The blaster wound is in his chest, Rex thinks it will have damaged or destroyed the captain’s lungs. Between that and his  _ back _ \- Tarkin is not going to make it.

Still, if he has  _ time _ , then Rex knows they will have to bring Tarkin anyway.

“It appears,” Tarkin says, his normally too-smooth voice sounding strangled, “that you will not be able to get me to the rendezvous.” His fingers spasm over his chest, weak, and Rex finds something like pity in with the not-caring.

“No,” Rex agrees, carefully.

Tarkin scowls, his eyes shutting and whole face twisting into a sneer which Rex takes to be evidence of  _ pain _ . “This information must make it back to the Republic, clo-  _ Captain _ . It’s  _ imperative _ . So I-” Tarkin stops, twists a little like he’s trapped. “I will give the coordinates to you.”

Rex nods, tugs off his helmet and meets Tarkin’s eyes, passively (because pity is not something the captain will want). “Fine, then,” he says, stiffly. “I’ll make sure the Republic gets them.”

Tarkin swears, closes his eyes, and Rex leans closer, hands tight around his bucket, and listens, memorizes.

And then he leans back, and Tarkin sneers before spasming again and curling up. Not dead yet. Rex has no more painkillers and nothing to help even if that were practical. He looks around, unsure what to  _ do _ now, and sees Ahsoka struggling to get from her knees to her feet, General Piell limp in her arms, although she’s hardly managing to hold onto him.

Rex gets slowly, wearily to his feet and walks over to them, takes Piell’s small, heavy body from Ahsoka and nods to her. “The coordinates?” he asks.

“Yeah,” she says.

It is a small mercy that when Rex turns around to look at Tarkin again, he’s clearly dead, or seconds away from it. Rex doesn’t know how they could move him too.

“What about his?” Ahsoka asks.

“They’re taken care of,” Rex answers.

Ahsoka nods, and that’s all, then. Rex wishes it felt more satisfying, that they killed the droids and got the information, but it simply doesn’t. He’s just exhausted and he’s carrying a dead Jedi (and so it’s just his four  _ vode _ left of General Piell’s battalion) and he wants to be home.

Ahsoka tries standing again, but she wobbles, cries out, and stumbles against him - he sticks out one elbow for her to hold onto, tries to be support for her although he still has to carry General Piell.

“Let’s go find the others,” he says.

~~~

Ahsoka can barely breathe, staggers a bit--her leg won’t hold her weight, and it’s only a supreme force of  _ will _ that keeps her standing as the blood rushes from her head and everything  _ spins. _ “Yeah,” she gasps out,  _ shit _ this hurts, grits her teeth and clenches her jaw and tries not to lean too much onto Rex’s side.

He’s tired, more exhausted than she is, really, at least she got a little bit of sleep earlier, probably close to an hour’s worth--a catnap she  _ should _ be able to make last at least a standard day. But she’s injured and she’s pushed herself too hard and she really shouldn’t be upright at  _ all, _ and so it’s everything she can do just to lock her knee and  _ force _ herself to walk.

She sags into Rex’s side more the further they go, though she tries not to, stiffening her spine into durasteel and swallowing the pain and not letting herself fall. But it’s  _ hard, _ it hurts, it hurts and there’s numbers and letters (coordinates) swirling jagged-edged and bloody through her brain and she cannot  _ focus _ for the pain. 

_ We do what we must. _

_ How many men? _

She protected them, at least  (except Dodge, she failed him).

_ Take care of my men, Padawan Tano. _

It’s Cody who sees them first, comes running out of the smoke and  _ swears _ at her, or at Rex, she’s not sure which, snarls out, “The  _ kriff, _ Commander,” and unceremoniously pulls her away from Rex, hefts her into his arms.

She yelps and he swears again, tiredly. Doesn’t seem to notice the way she flinches, because he’s too  _ close, _ it’s all too much, too fast, too sudden, she doesn’t  _ like it, _ remembers claws shivering down her skin and teeth in her arm and breath too-warm over her montrals and--and she swallows hard, because Rex is  _ right here, _ and this is kriffing  _ Cody, _ she’s fine, she’s safe, she’s alright, really. Rex is safe and Rex is here and Cody is Rex’s best friend, she’s  _ fine. _ (The Son can look like whoever he chooses.)

Cody keeps careful pace with Rex, doesn’t say another word until they reach the others, still doesn’t let her down. Even when she tries. (And it’s so, so hard to keep from flinching, from panicking, his arms are chains holding her down and she can’t--she can’t---can’t breathe, can’t  _ think, _ it’s okay, Ahsoka, Rex is here. Rex is  _ here. _ She’s safe.)

“Where’s--” and Anakin’s eyes flick from Rex carrying Master Piell’s body to Ahsoka pale-faced and dizzy in Cody’s arms to the distinct lack of Captain Tarkin, “the captain?”

“Dead,” Rex answers shortly.

“The information?” Obi-Wan asks.

“We have it. I’ve got Tarkin’s, Commander Tano has the General’s,” says Rex, tiredly.

“The droids are dead,” Ahsoka manages, her voice strained from the pain.

Anakin grits his teeth, clenches his fists. “And you kriffing  _ fought, _ didn’t you? Karking  _ hells, _ Ahsoka!”

She breathes, shaky and shuddering. “We do what we must.”

He swears explosively, drags a hand down his face. 

“I don’t think I can walk, Master,” she adds, exhausted, slumps into Cody’s chest. “My leg won’t hold my weight.”

“No kriffing  _ way,” _ and he’s  _ so _ sarcastic. “I’m surprised you could fight on it.”

“I took painkillers.”

The look on Anakin's face is all the scolding she needs.

Kriff.

If she hurt less, she'd probably be embarrassed.

~~~

Rex bends down, sets General Piell’s body down on the rock, and steps back by Cody, putting his helmet back on with too-shaky hands. “Give her back to me,” he says to Cody on comms, and Cody twists to look at him with a sharp intake of breath.

“Rex, no. You don't have the energy to carry her the whole way.”

“You're fresher, they need you to fight,” Rex says bluntly. “I'm down a blaster pistol anyway and I- I need to do this, Cody, it's my fault her leg is like this.”

“Rex. You know it's-”

“‘It's not my fault,’ yeah, well it kinda kriffing is! Until you can point someone else out to me who wrecked her speeder and broke her leg so bad she- I did it, Cody, chip or no karking chip, and I have to remember it, and if I hadn't been there or I'd done something different she wouldn't be injured like this, so I can't- Please, Cody.”

Cody looks at him for a moment longer, then he sighs. “When we get moving again, ori’vod, you can have her back. When we've dealt with the General.”

Right. General Piell is dead.

Rex has no idea what the Jedi do for their dead, although he's sure it's much more formal than what the vode do for theirs, so he can't help his fascination as his Generals find a blanket (it was in Cody’s pack, just a regular wool blanket) and bundle General Piell in it, then they all walk along the edge of the path back to where they'd split up to fight the anubas. Rex and Cody are the only vode who stay close to the Jedi, because of Ahsoka; the rest of the vode fall back to give them space. 

The death rites of the Jedi are not theirs to know - they shouldn't be Rex and Cody’s, either, but they can't leave Ahsoka.

It's nearly silent as Kenobi and Skywalker stand for a moment, just breathing, Rex thinks. Then, together, they lift their hands, and with them Master Piell’s body, moving it over the edge of the cliff face and down, slow and careful as if he weren't dead, into the lava flow.

“May the Force be with you,” Knight Skywalker says, solemn (more so than Rex usually hears him).

Cody and Rex, in their helmets where no one can hear them, intone,  _ “Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la.” _

Their Jedi stand in silence for a few minutes, the yellow lava turning them into molten silhouettes, then both of them turn and nod to Cody and Rex with small smiles.

It's like they don't mind that they saw their death rites, that they were glad to share the moment with them, too.

“Sorry about the General, sirs,” Rex says, inclines his head.

“Thank you, Rex,” Kenobi answers.

Rex turns back to Cody as their vode rejoin them, because he wants Ahsoka back with him. It's not that he doesn't think Cody will keep her safe, because he trusts Cody with his life (they are ori’vode, that's what that means, trust and protection), it's just- he needs to have her with him, needs to feel like he knows where she is, if she's okay.

“Please be careful, ori’vod,” Cody says, and Rex knows him well enough to recognize fear low in Cody’s voice even over comms. He nods, and Cody sighs and says, “Okay, Commander, I'm giving you back to Captain Rex. Can you hang onto him so he can use his blaster?”

Ahsoka nods, and little gods she looks worn out, face drawn tight and pained. She slides her arms around his neck and Cody lets Rex fit his arms around her and pull her close, into his arms again.

She whimpers and his muscles burn but it feels better, nonetheless. He frees one arm, draws his blaster, nods to Cody again.

_ “Vor’e, ori’vod,” _ he says.

“What's that mean?” Ahsoka mumbles, and Rex smiles tightly.

“It means thanks.”

~~~

_ Vor’e. _ She likes the way that sounds, the way it rolls off Rex’s tongue when he says it, the smoothness of it, the way it ripples. “Mando’a is pretty,” she says, quietly, closes her eyes and tilts her head into his a little.

“Yeah,” he agrees, soft.

“Did Jango Fett teach it to you?” Ahsoka asks, her voice a rasp in her throat. “Like he did the jetpacks?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Cody too. Us older batches.”

She wonders what that would’ve been like, to learn like that. “What else did he teach you?”

They follow the lava flows for a ways, and Rex stays silent as he picks a path through a large area of shattered stone and crushed rocks, she thinks trying to find a way through that jostles her the least. He doesn’t speak until after they’re through the field of boulders, and he sighs tiredly first. “He taught us hand-to-hand, too.”

“‘S that why you’re so much better than me?” she hums, teasingly, and he rumbles a chuckle low in his chest.

“No,  _ ner’al’verde, _ that’s because the Jedi didn’t teach you anything,” and even through his helmet she can tell he’s amused.

She tilts her head to one side, curiously. “What’s that mean?”

“Commander,” he tells her, lightly.

“I like it,” she decides, tiredly, offers him a pained half-smile. He picks through another tumble of fallen rock and she has to swallow back a swear as pain stabs through her side, her leg, and she tightens her grip on his pauldron. “Even--” and she sucks in a sharp breath at a sudden change in elevation, “even swears sound pretty in Mando’a.”

Rex laughs, and she thinks he’s probably smiling at her from behind his helmet. “Not when you know what they mean,” he says wryly, and she chuckles.

“Mmm, I think they still sound nice,” she hums. Has to pause as he circumvents a large pool of lava, grit her teeth and bite her tongue and breathe through the pain, before she can speak again, her voice breathy and gasping. “Besides, I don’t know what they mean, since--you refused to teach me anything.”

~~~

Rex huffs a little, because he's exhausted and she's hurting but it helps, talking, joking a little. “If it helps, it isn't you,” he says wryly. It is her, really, but part of it is, “it's your position. It's hard to talk shit about your officers behind their backs when you know what they're saying. And sometimes the boys get real descriptive about shit they shouldn't.”

She chuckles, a little hoarse, and he sees her raise an eyebrow. “So you talk shit about me, then?”

“Obviously not, sir,” Rex says, smoothly, although mostly if they don't, it's because they all feel too protective of her.

She snorts, strangely not convinced. “ _ Obviously _ ,” she says archly. “And _ I'm  _ a member of the Council.”

“Are you? Congratulations.” Rex eases carefully between narrowing streams of lava; his balance isn't so good just now.

“I'll punch you.”

“You do that.” Rex has armor, there's only a few places a punch would hurt him right now. Unless she used the Force, which would make her a poor sport.

“I  _ will _ ,” she insists, grumpily, “As soon as we're  _ off _ this Force-forsaken dirtball.”

“Again, sir. You do that. I just told you Jango Fett taught me hand-to-hand, you're not very scary.” The last sentence comes out more strained and tired than he would prefer; they're moving more uphill for a stretch and it's so much  _ work _ ,  _ kriff _ him.

“Wanna bet?” she huffs.

“No,” Rex says, scowling. “I just lost all my credits to Fives.”

“How?”

“I bet him he couldn't get out of civvies and kitted up in less than two minutes.” Rex has never seen a _vod_ move that fast before and doesn't think he ever will again. “I still think it was a trick.”

She makes an impressed little “mm” sound. “How much was he gonna give you if you won?”

To the clones, a small fortune - “Sixty credits. Everything the  _ di’kut _ had. Except I guess I'm the idiot, I don't have a kriffing credit left now and I had more than him.”

Ahsoka makes the impressed noise again, more emphatically, and he narrows his eyes at her. “Don't make fun of me, I had every right to expect to win that.”

“Me? I'm _obviously_ _not_ making fun of you.”

“ _ Obviously _ ,” Rex mimics, like she'd done, shaking his head.

“I only make fun of Anakin,” she informs him tiredly, grinning. “Because he deserves it. Mostly I just laugh at him in his head when he's being dumb.”  _ Which is quite often _ , Rex thinks. “Until he gets mad enough to block me out.”

“Yeah, in his head,” Rex says, like he has  _ any _ idea how  _ that _ works.

Ahsoka giggles a little at that. “It's the training bond,” she says matter-of-factly.

“Oh, of course, the training bond.” Rex rolls his eyes.

Ahsoka whacks his shoulder. “You could just  _ ask _ , dummy. It's a connection between Masters’ and Padawans’ minds through the Force. To help us learn and stuff.”

_ Weird. _ “Good to know you're using it properly, then,” Rex says dryly. That would be like using someone's private commlink to give running commentary on their fighting style.

~~~

Ahsoka blinks innocently up at Rex. “Well, of  _ course,” _ she says, brightly. “What  _ else _ am I supposed to use it for?”

She’s pretty sure Rex is raising an eyebrow at her. “Oh, I don’t know,” he says, dry as dust. “There’s this thing called  _ learning, _ you should try it sometime.”

The  _ kriff, _ he did  _ not _ just-- “Rex!” she yelps, glaring at him. “You big--what did you call Fives?  _ Di’kut, _ whatever that means, it’s probably an insult. You big  _ di’kut,” _ and she  _ hmphs, _ would cross her arms at him if that didn’t mean  _ letting go _ and possibly falling.

“It means  _ idiot, _ Ahsoka, and  _ this _ is why you need to know what things mean  _ before _ you say them,” he says patiently.

She rolls her eyes, shakes her head, tightens her fingers on his pauldron as a particularly hot spike of pain shoots through her side. “Where’s the fun in that, Rexter? It’s much funnier when I just say whatever Fives dared me to and you choke,” and she grins up at him, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “He owed me  _ fifty credits _ after the last time.”

“I  _ hate _ Fives,” Rex says.

“Of course you do,” she says, smirks wider. “Because he can kit up faster than you, apparently.”

“He cannot!” Rex sounds so  _ affronted _ it’s hilarious. “How  _ dare _ you.”

“You _just_ told me so yourself,” she says sweetly, looks up, knows she makes eye contact with him. “Two minutes _is_ pretty impressive, you know,” and she arches an eyebrow, lets go of his pauldron for long enough to flick his collarbone, lightly. “I’m _shocked,_ Rex. _My_ _Captain_ isn’t the best at everything he does? How shameful,” and she can’t help grinning wider, tongue between her teeth, a full-blown smirk. (And if she’s enjoying it a little _too_ much, well… turnabout is fair play, as they say.)

~~~

Rex  _ sputters _ behind his helmet, because  _ first of all _ the implications of that statement are  _ all _ rude and unfair, kriff her, and  _ second of all _ ,  _ her _ Captain? Kriffing- insufferable, probably - yeah, he's  _ pissed _ , or at least he would be if she wasn't smiling smug and sarcastic like- he doesn't  _ know _ but she needs to kriffing stop it.

Unbelievable, how  _ dare _ she smirk at him, and how dare she call him “ _ my Captain _ ” in that tone of voice, it's so  _ patronizing _ and there was something else he was mad about too.

He thinks.

Damnit.

_ Her Captain _ .

Kark it, and her in particular. He shifts awkwardly, tense, tense, tense, scrambles for an answer that's properly biting.

“I never claimed to be the best,” he manages. “Just better than Fives. At most things.”

_ My Captain _ .

Damn his brain.

He bets he could kiss that dumb smirk off her face.

_ Shit _ .

“But not at kitting up, apparently.” She smirks wider at him, eyes  _ sparkling _ (sun off the ocean) with amusement.

“ _ Ne’johaa _ , sir,” he grumbles, at a loss for a better comeback, because he definitely  _ could _ kiss her and she'd probably  _ still _ be smirking and very proud of herself.

Ahsoka frees a hand from his pauldron and throws him a flippant, mocking salute. “Yes,  _ sir,” _ she snarks, and Rex chokes a little, looks straight ahead because she's got her lips all twisted up, sassy and totally unaware that she's- she's  _ got _ to have some idea of what she's doing to him. Right?

_ Gods _ , he hopes not.

Whether he wants to kiss her or not is a moot point anyway since he's wearing his helmet.

He doesn't have a response to  _ that _ , which means he has to awkwardly go silent and regulate his breathing and hope she doesn't think that means he's- whatever he is.

Wanting to kiss her, partly.

~~~

Perhaps Ahsoka should be  _ focusing _ on other things right now, like the fact that they’re deep in Separatist space on a hostile planet with several wounded and vital intel in their possession and some  _ seriously _ pissed-off droids behind them. She thinks if Anakin wasn’t so busy being worried about her, he’d be  _ telling _ her that himself, across their bond. But he’s not, and so there’s no one to remind her to  _ focus, _ at least on the important things. Or the things that she’s supposed to  _ think _ are important.

But right now, the fact that her calling Rex  _ sir _ literally made him choke and go silent is  _ very important. _

So he  _ likes _ it when she calls him  _ sir, _ then? Interesting.

Very interesting.

She’ll have to remember that.

Unfortunately, there’s no time to really test out any interesting theories, because they’re approaching the crater where the island that’s the rendezvous point is, and that means steel cables over lava. Kriff. She does  _ not _ like lava.

The extraction point is a tiny island cradled by molten gold-orange magma, bordered by long fangs of rock spiking upwards and outwards all round the edges, like a defense mechanism, like those sea urchins in the nature holos of Mon Cala (because  _ apparently _ nature documentaries are  _ obviously _ the best way to spend your time, Barriss,  _ why _ would  _ anyone _ watch a kriffing documentary when there’s  _ Hero With No Fear _ to make fun of?). There’s two more pointed spikes of stone on the shore they’re standing on, and it’s there that Anakin and Cody attach their steel cables. Cody comes over to her and Rex, then, looks at her (and he’s probably frowning, she thinks--he seems to frown a lot around her), looks at Rex, sighs.

“I’ll take you across, Commander,” he says tiredly. “I’m in better shape.”

That’s true, and Rex will need all his strength to cross the cables, she thinks, so she nods. “Okay, Cody.”

“Can you balance on my back?” he asks, and she swallows, remembering how much it’d hurt when Rex had carried her on his back down the cliff.

But this is war.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she tells him, and Rex carefully lowers her so she’s standing on her one good leg, still holding to his pauldron. (She doesn’t want to let go.)

She doesn’t think Cody is convinced, but they don’t have much choice. “Right, sir,” he says, dubiously, and turns around. She gives Rex a wan smile, forces herself to straighten (ow, kriff, her  _ stomach), _ and then loops her arms loose around Cody’s neck, takes a deep breath, and jumps up, hooking her legs around his waist.

His armor is  _ much _ pokier than Rex’s.

“Your armor is stabby,” she grumbles, hears Rex snort from behind her.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Cody says dryly, and then he climbs carefully up the rock prong and out onto the cable. “Keep as centered as you can, please.”

“Duh,” she grumbles, swallows hard (ow, that  _ hurts) _ and tightens her arms just a little. “I’m not a  _ di’kut.” _

“Debatable,” he mutters, under his breath, and if she weren’t a  _ Togrutan _ with her montrals very close to his helmet she wouldn’t have ever heard, but as it is the only reason she doesn’t swat him is because they’re on a  _ cable. _ Over  _ lava. _

She wants to survive, thank you very much.

Rex climbs onto the other cable, and they inch their way along, slowly, Ahsoka pulling on the Force to help with the pain and to keep her and Cody as balanced as possible--and then, finally, they reach the other side. And Cody is maneuvering himself  _ very slowly _ and carefully onto the island. Rex takes a minute longer to get up, but he does, and then Beta and Click start across. She looks back over her shoulder to see Anakin holding Echo (Fives hovering nearby) and Obi-Wan with a very red-faced Alpha--probably preparing to Force-jump across, she thinks. Once Click and Fives get over, they’ll come. It’ll be easy.

Cody carries her over to an outcropping of rock near the edge of the island and sets her down, sternly says,  _ “Stay here, _ Commander,” and then goes over to help Click off.

Stay here.

She can do that.

~~~

Rex  _ aches _ , but he strides over to Ahsoka and stands close to her, settles his arms behind his back in parade rest after drawing his blaster. So soon, almost there. Cody is pacing at his shoulder, adjusting his grip regularly on Dodge’s blaster rifle. Fives eases off the cable, stands up alright (at least  _ he’s _ not injured, he and Cody and Rex, they have to be able to do this).

General Kenobi appears to be talking to Skywalker  _ very _ sharply, then Rex’s General takes a few steps back and springs across the gap, lands heavier than usual on one of the spurs of rock and pauses, steadying himself on the balls of his feet. Then he lightly runs down it, smooth and careful with Echo, and lays Echo down by Ahsoka.

Fives immediately goes over and stands by his  _ ori’vod _ .

Kenobi jumps the distance more easily, probably because Alpha is lighter and he wasn’t  _ electrocuted _ , lands between the jagged edges of stone and gives General Skywalker an angry scowl. “Was all the showmanship  _ necessary _ , Anakin?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Skywalker says breezily, and Kenobi snorts, exasperated, and goes over to Ahsoka, setting Alpha down to sit next to her. Alpha looks  _ distinctly _ awed and uncomfortable, both at once.

“Why do I even bother,” Kenobi says dryly, rolling his eyes, still looking just short of actually angry.

Then, distant but  _ fast, fast, fast _ approaching comes the sound of speeders (Rex can’t help but flinch), and they all turn to look in the direction of the sound, see a whole squad of droids approaching from nearly all sides.

Cody draws his blaster pistol, presses it fast into Alpha’s hand, and steps up by Rex; they both put themselves between the nearest incoming droids and their injured  _ aliit _ and Rex wishes for his other blaster but Beta is there with it, which is better than one of their fighters being unarmed.

He doesn’t know how they’re going to do this, but they  _ will _ . Because they have to.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are genuinely sorry for this, believe it or not. the babies are trying their best! *distant crying*
> 
> DONT WORRY EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT IN THE END

When the droids come, Ahsoka  _ wants _ to join the fight, but she can’t  _ stand _ and everything  _ hurts. _ But she will  _ not _ be unprepared, so she draws her green saber, holds the hilt tight in her hand and waits. If she sits right, she can hold her saber out and deflect blaster bolts away from Echo and Alpha and herself, which is better than nothing. At least this way they have  _ some _ defense.

And they’re going to  _ need _ that defense, because Cody and Rex and Fives have to  _ move, _ to get angles and to avoid getting shot, and so she’s all the defense these injured troopers have. Their last line of defense. 

_ Kark it, _ she really wishes she could stand.

Anakin and Obi-Wan manage to get onto a pair of speeders easily enough and start flying around killing commandos, and she sees Click and Beta with blasters taking out the downed droids, and Rex and Cody are by the cables shooting at the crab droids and commandos and B2s approaching,  _ fast, _ but it’s still not enough. Won’t be enough, unless the rescue ship gets here soon. They’re too small, too injured, too exhausted. 

Fives fires one-two-one-two, gets a hit on Sobek’s speeder, and the quite-frankly  _ creepy _ commander hits the ground not two meters away from her and Alpha and Echo’s position, lays there staring at her like he’s goading her into making the first move.

Ahsoka looks over at Echo, unconscious and barely breathing, at Alpha, exhausted, both hands curled tight around Cody’s blaster, and makes her decision.

She flips herself onto a knee (her good leg), balances for a moment as all the blood rushes from her head and a wave of dizziness swamps her, and then she ignites her saber and starts to push herself to her feet.

And Sobek  _ launches _ himself forward, flips her saber out of her hand to embed itself in a rock, and clamps both hands tight around her throat, choking out all the air from her lungs in a rush. She gasps, lets out a stifled scream, remembers cold laughter on the edges of her mind, and--

**_Mine!_ ** something snarls, hissing and horrible, and she yelps as Sobek--the Son--someone lifts her high into the air and  _ slams _ her down into the ground, on her back, sending pain shivering through her like an explosion, throat closed, eyes blurring,  _ pain  _ and  _ agony _ rippling across her skin, and she can’t  _ breathe, _ can’t, can’t, can’t--

She’s jerked into the air again, fast, too fast, everything spins, and a cracking voice hisses, “Look at you, little Jedi child, so  _ easy _ to break,” and-- _ chains are the easy part, _ something hums,  _ don’t you see, child? you’re alone now, _ and no no no  _ not again, _ please no, please, she can’t--she won’t--he’s gone, they  _ promised, _ please no, please, please, and there’s a hand on her arm like a vise, gripping so tight she’s afraid the bone will snap like a child’s toy  _ (don’t you see, child?), _ and then something’s hefting her up into the air and all she can see is blurred rock and lava, blackness encroaching on the edges of her vision, and she gasps and chokes and coughs, scrabbles at her throat with her one free hand, but she  _ can’t, _ there’s nothing, no give to the fingers locked around her like iron, digging into the soft skin on either side of her trachea like a handhold, and  _ no no please no. _

And then there’s the sound of a blaster firing and the  _ thing _ holding her  _ roars _ and she’s falling, falling, a durasteel hand still clamped around her neck, and she hits the ground hard enough to see stars but the hand  _ lets go _ and it’s all she can do to shove herself away just a few short centimeters, curl into a tiny ball and choke in desperate, gasping breaths, and  **_mine, mine, mine, mine,_ ** says something cold and silent and vicious in the depths of her thoughts and she cannot--she won’t--doesn’t--

She cannot  _ think _ and she cannot  _ do this _ and she doesn’t--she doesn’t know what to  _ do _ and so she clings desperately to the fragile threads of herself that aren’t entirely submerged in  _ panic _ and tries not to scream.

~~~

Rex plunges his vibroblade into the backplate of a commando droid that Fives forces back towards him, shooting another at the same time, hates that he only has the one blaster. Too many droids for their small force, too many getting between him and Cody and the injured, too many that take more than a few shots to get to the ground. Kenobi and Skywalker are helping with the crab droids, which is one thing Rex can ignore - and he twists, fires again, again, again, again at a group of B2s approaching, whirls back around to shoot another past Cody.

Then there’s a blur of motion, not such a surprise except its animal and unfamiliar and Rex’s instincts say to  _ pay attention _ to this. He shoots a B2, looks, and the blur resolves into a  _ creature _ , not-right, grabbing his Ahsoka, knocking a lit saber to clatter dull to the stone, wrapping a hand around her throat, and Rex  _ roars _ , drives into a new press of commandos, because he  _ will _ get to her,  _ has to _ .

They’re all bolts flying around his head, metal joints jammed into his armor, and he has to focus on the fight except then he isn’t watching Ahsoka and he has to, has to know, and he shoots almost aimlessly (except never that), struggling to just always move  _ forward _ , towards her.

He gets a glimpse of them, for a moment, of harsh fingers twisting around her neck, too close, and he  _ has to get to her _ , she needs him to keep her safe, he has to, he can’t let her go again, she said she always trusted him and he can’t let her down this time, he can’t, can’t-

_ Focus _ .

He stops trying to force his way through blindly, draws everything  _ in _ and just aims and fires, one-two-three-four, and -  _ not enough not fast enough _ \- there’s nothing, no distinction in the sounds and he can’t  _ see them _ and then Cody’s next to him, shooting too, and almost all at once (like the last of a row of dominoes falling) there are no more droids between him and his ‘Soka and she’s just small on the ground and the  _ thing _ (it has a name, he thinks, Sobek) is on the ground too (dead, he’s not a concern) and Alpha is perched on one knee clutching Cody’s blaster still pointing at Sobek and Rex just runs for Ahsoka, yanking his helmet almost painfully off his head.

He has the sense to slow down before he gets to her, to go to his knees more careful and quiet, and he  _ wants _ to grab her into his arms but he can’t, he knows better, but at least he can see her breathing (and that’s not so good either, heavy and fast and audible, panting). “Ahsoka,” he says, quick.

And she twists around so fast he thinks he’s scared her, scrambles up and onto his knees, shoving her arms around his waist and pressing her face into the front of his cuirass. She’s shaking,  _ hard _ , and when he puts his arm careful around her shoulders she lets out an awful sob, so he pulls her close to him and buries his face in her montrals.

~~~

Rex is  _ here. _

She’s  _ safe. _

Ahsoka scrambles to pull herself as close to him as she can, so fast it  _ hurts, _ letting out a strangled, anguished cry and hiding her face in his shoulder. “Rex,” she whimpers, shaking and sobbing and choking, “I  _ heard him, _ Rex, I felt him, he was  _ back,” _ and she digs her fingers into the edges of his armor and  _ clings, _ so so tight.

She has to hold on, she can’t let go, if she lets go she’s  _ lost _ and he’ll have her and she  _ needs Rex, _ needs to hold on to safety and warmth like sunlight.

“He’s not, he’s not here, ‘Soka,” Rex promises, and she holds tighter, gasping. “He’s dead and I’ve got you.”

She shakes her head, hard, can’t help it, shivering  _ (you are alone now) _ and small and scared. “I--he was  _ here,” _ she says, sharp and shaky, “he said  _ mine _ and I can’t--I don’t--I don’t want to go back, Rex, please.”

“I’ve got you, I promise,” he says, holds her closer, and she shudders. “I won’t let go. He can’t get you anymore. You’re  _ safe, _ ‘Soka.”

Safe.

“Promise,” she breathes, the air hitching in her throat, pulling back enough she can meet his eyes.

“Promise,” he agrees, presses his forehead to hers. “He’s gone, he’s never coming back.”

She swallows, lets out a ragged exhale, whispers, “‘Kay,” and winds her arms around his neck, just  _ breathes, _ just exists, because he’s  _ here _ and she’s  _ safe _ and he  _ promised. _ “Always trust you, my Rex,” and she tightens her arms around him, revels in the feeling, in  _ safety. _

She never wants to let go.

~~~

“ _ Vor’e _ ,” Rex says, softly, for her trusting him, leaves his forehead tilted against hers, reaches up to cup her cheek in his hand, soothing, swipes his thumb under her eye to wipe away tears. She leans her head into his touch, whimpering a little, and Rex  _ hurts _ . “You’re safe,” he says again. “I have you,  _ ner’jetii _ .” He slips his hand down to skim so, so light over the bruises on her neck and rests it on her shoulder, eases forward and brushes his lips against hers, pulls back again in case that was too much.

Ahsoka goes kind of still, then leans into him, fast, and tightens her arms around his neck, surges up for another kiss, and it’s kind of messy and she’s crying still but he holds on tight, not so tight that he’ll hurt her. Then she pulls away and drops her face against the hollow between his shoulder and neck and doesn’t move.

He  _ thinks _ that’s not bad? But he’s not totally sure.

Carefully, slowly, he eases himself to his feet (and Cody grabs his bucket for him, clips it to his belt), still holding Ahsoka, who’s wrapped around him like a koala again.

For the moment, everything is still, and Fives has picked up Echo and Beta has Alpha and there’s a sound of  _ engines _ , Rex realizes -  _ transports _ , thank the  _ little gods _ .

“Alpha,” Rex says, and Alpha nods at him, sheepishly. “You did good,  _ vod’ika _ .”

Alpha nods tiredly, and the transport (full of members of Plo’s Wolfpack) skims low by the ground and Rex’s 104th  _ vode _ lean out the side, offer Cody a hand up and then, clumsily, he hauls himself and Ahsoka into the transport too (she whimpers), goes over to lean against the side of the transport and hang onto the overhead straps with one hand.

The Wolfpack helps the rest of his  _ aliit _ onto the transport, and then Wolffe comes over to him, gives him an obvious once-over, then says, gruffly, “Rex,  _ sit down _ .”

Rex blinks a little, tightens his arm around Ahsoka. Right. Sitting. That’s safe to do now. He nods and eases himself down to the floor, almost slides, drops his head against the side of the transport, wraps his other arm around Ahsoka too, and closes his eyes as she shifts closer to him.

He is tired. There’s a debriefing to do, after, and letting Kix check him out, and- there was something else, he does something after missions with his armor, he doesn’t remember.

Oh well. When they get back he’ll remember.

When they- When he’s-

_ Later _ .

~~~

Obi-Wan is  _ tired. _

He hangs on too tight to the straps above his head, Anakin listing slightly against his shoulder--his Padawan is  _ also _ exhausted, and in pain, too, and afraid for Ahsoka, and has not rested at all since this mission began.

(Neither has Obi-Wan, but that is beside the point.)

Rex has fallen asleep, sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall of the transport, and Obi-Wan thinks Ahsoka is asleep too, where she’s curled in his lap, her face tucked into the hollow of his neck. She’s clinging  _ tight, _ and Obi-Wan  _ saw _ what Commander Sobek did to her, and he  _ remembers _ the slow, halting sentences spilling past her lips as she told him of what the Son had done to her, while she was chained in his tower. He knows that Rex, right now, is the only thing holding her together--the only thing keeping her from a panic attack--and that if she were to wake without him, the consequences could be disastrous. 

Very well. He will have to make certain Kix doesn’t separate them. Even though that means going to the  _ Resolute _ first, before the  _ Negotiator-- _ Scratch will be  _ furious. _

Oh, well. It is hardly the first time Obi-Wan has done such a thing, and this time he is not injured. Both his padawans are, though, and he intends to make  _ certain _ Anakin actually allows Kix to treat him. (Like Master, like Padawan.)

He turns the scene he’d seen over and over in his mind, the way Captain Rex had gone to his knees beside Ahsoka with such  _ terror _ on his face, how she’d snapped around and clung to him, crying. The way the Captain had pulled her tight to him, cupped her cheek and brushed away her tears and  _ kissed her, _ nothing more than a brush of his lips to hers, but a kiss all the same. The way she’d surged back up to kiss him again, harder, before curling up against his chest like she  _ belonged _ there, like she wanted to crawl inside his skin. 

It’s worrisome.

And yet… and yet something about it seems  _ beautiful, _ he thinks, the way they laugh and the way her eyes gleam so  _ bright _ when Rex smiles at her, the way they build on each other and complement each other, and he finds he doesn’t  _ wish _ to report them to the Council. Though he  _ certainly _ should.

But he is  _ on _ the Council, so the fact that he knows should be perfectly good enough. Right? Right. Loopholes may not be the GAR’s forte, but he is _ the Negotiator. _ Loopholes are his  _ specialty. _

The transport docks with the  _ Resolute _ first, and Obi-Wan follows Anakin, Fives, and Beta off; Cody crouches down by Rex, nudges him awake, helps him off. The Captain looks  _ exhausted _ and barely conscious and is clinging to Ahsoka like she’s a lifeline, leaning heavy on Cody’s shoulder, and if Obi-Wan weren’t so  _ tired _ he would help.

But he is, and so he does not, trusts instead to his Commander and holds onto Anakin’s arm to keep his padawan steady (Anakin is wobbling, a bit like he’s drunk, muttering something about  _ kriffing circuits, _ which Obi-Wan takes to mean that his mech hand is being problematic), follows Beta (and Alpha, who is bright-eyed and  _ awed _ while also exhausted) and Fives (clutching Echo as tightly to his chest as Rex is Ahsoka) and Cody to the medbay.

Kix is wringing his hands together and pale and  _ tired, _ shadows under his eyes, and Jesse is at his shoulder, like support, like an anchor--Obi-Wan expects Kix to have been worrying ever since he discovered Ahsoka was gone. On a mission she was  _ certainly _ not cleared for (and yet became one of the two most important members of--the Force does indeed work in strange ways).

“Kriffing  _ finally!” _ Kix snaps, sounds more  _ terrified _ than angry, rushes forward and then just--stops. “Little  _ gods. _ Tuck, Sniper, our  _ vode _ and our  _ di’kutla _ General. Cody, get Rex down on a bunk and get the Commander from him--”

“No,” Obi-Wan says, tiredly, shaking his head. “If you pull her away, she’ll panic when she wakes up. Leave them together for now, and let them sleep.”

Kix blinks, hesitates, and then nods. “Sure, General. Cody, don’t get the Commander from him. General Kenobi, on a bunk, Scratch will murder me when we get back to Coruscant if I let you keep walking.”

“I am  _ fine, _ Kix,” Obi-Wan says.

“Don’t listen to him,” says Anakin, “he kept healing people and overextending himself and he’s probably gonna fall over-- _ ow, _ the  _ kriff, _ Sniper!”

“Yes, thank you,” Obi-Wan says dryly. Kix gives him a  _ look, _ and he sighs, acquiesces. “But only until we get back. Scratch will be worried.”

“I’ll tell him,” Cody says gruffly, unclipping Rex’s helmet from his belt and setting it down, starting to work on pulling off Rex’s armor pieces.  _ “Nuhoyi jahaala,  _ sir.”

_ “Gar balyc,” _ Obi-Wan says, returning the Mando’a with a bit of a smile.

“Oh, I will,” Cody growls. “When you all stop with the  _ karking jarose.” _

Fair point. Obi-Wan just sighs and rolls his eyes fondly, lowers himself onto a bunk. Sleep sounds nice, in fact.

~~~

Kix lets Tuck and Sniper and the other junior medics find beds for the Captain and Commander and for the two injured  _ vode _ they’ve brought back; he’s most concerned for Echo, who’s reportedly been unconscious since an explosion nearly killed him, and although Fives tells him (as they tug off Echo’s armor) that General Kenobi did some healing, Kix doesn’t like the look of his leg or his eye.

“Sit down and rest, sir,” Kix says, and Fives fidgets but does as he’s told and Kix focuses on Echo.

This has been a nightmare since the strike team left, what was it, two? two and a half? days ago now and Kix was informed by some  _ clueless _ flight technician that “Commander Tano was cleared to go with them, I think- she went along.” General Skywalker is reckless but he would  _ never _ clear Commander Tano for a mission if Kix said she couldn’t go, and Kix had  _ very expressly _ not cleared her to do  _ anything _ except  _ walk _ . And then  _ only _ with a brace.

And he was  _ right _ to do that, kriff it, and something had felt so  _ wrong _ to him when they left and he’s sure it’s because one of his  _ damn patients _ snuck off and now she has a blaster wound in her stomach and he almost doesn’t even want to  _ look _ at her leg, the one they spent  _ hours _ on trying to repair the first time.

He thinks they’ll need Jedi, and a medical leave for her.

But Echo- Echo is priority. He’s a mess, Kix doesn’t even know where to start -  _ stabilize him, get him somewhere better _ . He pushes Fives out of his way, puts the last pieces of Echo’s armor down on the floor, and starts hooking Echo up to monitors, applies bacta liberally to the worst of his burns. It all takes a while, and Fives keeps getting up off his chair and Jesse has to shove him back down, but finally Kix thinks  _ that’s enough _ and calls one of his medics, Ged, over to watch Echo and make sure Fives  _ stays put _ .

The new  _ vod _ , one of Piell’s, he supposes, isn’t in good shape either, but Kix is much more concerned about his Commander and her karking leg. He hurries over to the bunk that is much too small for both the Commander and Rex, even with Cody getting Rex’s armor off and how- how Rex has curled nearly entirely around Commander Tano, which Kix doesn’t really know how to deal with. He can’t look at his Commander if Rex is there, but Kenobi said she’d panic if she woke up without Captain Rex. He doesn’t know how he’d get them apart anyway; Rex has both arms around her, and in turn, the Commander is hanging onto Rex’s bicep.

Kix doesn’t  _ want _ to wake Rex up, but he needs to look at Commander Tano, so he sets his hand on Rex’s shoulder, is careful not to be too sudden because they’ve all made the mistake of waking a brother too fast (and Kix made that mistake with Rex only once), and shakes him until Rex wakes up (still jolts a little, curls tighter around Commander Tano).

“Sir,” Kix says, apologetically. “Sir, I need you to move so I can take a look at the Commander.”

His Captain blinks, then carefully, slowly untangles himself from the Commander’s grip, which proves to be quite the feat because the Commander is trying to stay with him, in her sleep. If everything were less  _ shitty _ , Kix would be kind of excited.

But it is shitty, so he gives the Captain a sharp look, and Rex swings his legs off the bunk and gets to his feet, swaying. “Find a chair, Captain, or  _ something _ .”

Before Rex can do as Kix said, though, Commander Tano’s eyes fly open and she  _ sits straight up _ , no,  _ kriff _ , damn it, looking around wildly for- for Captain Rex, Kix realizes, but Rex seems more ready for this than he was (should have known,  _ he did know partly _ ) and just steps back closer to the bunk, folds the Commander into his arms and runs his hand up and down her back.

“Right here, sir,” Rex says, very softly, and Kix rubs his head awkwardly for a second.

“Commander, I need-”

Something tells him to  _ stop _ and just let that go.

“I need to put bacta or  _ something  _ on that blaster wound, Captain,” Kix says, wearily.

Rex nods, says something by the Commander’s montrals that Kix can’t quite hear, and she shakes her head a little bit. “Only if you come back,” she says, and Rex shoots an apologetic look at Kix.

_ Never mind. _ This is a lost cause for now anyway.

He shrugs, and Captain Rex eases back onto the bunk, and their Commander presses up against his chest, grabbing onto his blacks.

_ Need to heal her _ .

He doesn’t have time or resources now, though, just precious little bacta. He sighs, glances down at her leg, doesn’t have to test it to know she’s kriffed it up, it’s twisted wrong again and there are bruises on the skin where he can see it. Damn it, he doesn’t even know  _ what _ he’s going to do for it. She’ll need real healers, probably, doctors and Jedi. He just wishes he could do something, but there’s nothing  _ to _ do in his limited medbay on the  _ Resolute _ .

Still, he  _ wants _ .

(And the thing that he locks far back out of the way where he can’t reach it twists, responds, warm and easy for just a brief second and he didn’t  _ mean to _ this time, it just  _ happened _ , and he tamps it back down even as it tells him that it’s pulled some bone fragments back into place.)

Kix gets out his bacta again, sits down on the bunk by Commander Tano’s side and offers her and Rex a wry smile, goes to work on his Commander’s side, trying not to think.

~~~

They’d tried to take Alpha from him as soon as he’d walked into the medbay.

Beta hadn’t allowed that.

It doesn’t  _ matter _ that the medics, Kix and Tuck and Sniper and the others, are all in 501st blue and can  _ probably _ all be trusted; Beta has done the same thing to Giver, the 431st’s senior medic, many a time. 

Had done.

Giver is dead, now. Just like Sentinel and Saint and Sparky and Whisper and Klutz and Tick-tock and Lurcher--and  _ everyone, _ except for Beta himself and Alpha and Hang-up and Click.

They’re all that’s left.

_ “Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc. Ni partayli, gar darasuum,” _ Beta says, softly, slumping back against the wall, and then he starts to recite the names.

Alpha helps too, with the names, but they don’t know  _ everyone _ in the battalion and those missing names and numbers gnaw at him like a mynock at a ship’s innards. It’s not  _ fair. _

Hang-up might know, he thinks--might remember all the names. They  _ have _ to remember, or what then? What happens when they forget their brothers and leave them behind and--

No. Hang-up  _ will _ remember.

_ “Kaysh ven’partayli,” _ Alpha says, and Beta nods.

_ “Ni kar’tayli, ori’vod.” _ He does know. It’s just… a hard thing. There is too much going on right now, too  _ much _ inside his head, names and numbers and the dead, and he wants to remember it  _ all. _

And yet Alpha needs him steady, Alpha needs him to be  _ present _ and focused and calm, because Alpha is hurting. (Beta  _ hurts, _ too.)

“Hey,  _ vode,” _ one of the medics says quietly, “can I put you on separate bunks?”

_ “Nayc,” _ Beta snaps, sharp, tightens his hold on Alpha.

“Alright, alright, easy. What’s your name?”

“Alpha,” says Alpha, clearly despite his obvious exhausted. “The grumpy-as-a-rancor one’s Beta.”

He is  _ not _ grumpy as a rancor, thank you very much.  _ “Ne’johaa, _ Alpha!”

_ “Ori’haat,” _ Alpha says, very seriously, still talking to the medic. “He’s worried ‘cause I got hurt.”

“I’m Sniper,” the medic says, calmly. “You can stay on the same bunk, that’s fine, but I gotta look at that blaster wound.”

“Don’t listen to Beta,” Alpha says, levering himself up onto his elbows and pulling his head out of Beta’s lap. The insolent--how  _ dare _ he! “He’s hurt too, but he’s not gonna tell you that. The clankers tortured us. Electrostaffs, mostly.”

“Good to know,” Sniper says dryly. “You’re planning on letting me treat you, right, Beta?”

Beta shrugs a bit. “Help him first.” Alpha is  _ always _ the priority. Giver’d figured that out eventually. “Then me.”

“Alright,  _ vod,” _ and Sniper nods, backs away and goes over to a durasteel table, pulls out some gloves and a jar of bacta and some alcohol wipes. “Get his shirt off, Beta, I don’t want him trying to do it himself.”

Good, that’s smart. Alpha complains, but Beta tugs the shirt of his blacks off anyway, exposing the ugly blaster wound and the electric burns spidering out around it. The nasty red tinge of infection is almost entirely gone--Beta will need to thank General Kenobi for that. He’s not sure Alpha would’ve survived with all that infection.

Sniper smiles, long and slow, drags a plastoid chair over with a screech and sits down, eyes the blaster wound almost contemplatively. “I can fix this,” he says after a moment. “Just needs bacta and a good clean bandage, an’ maybe some antibiotics too.”

Beta hadn’t realized how  _ worried _ he was until that pronouncement. “He’s gonna make it?” he asks, just to make sure.

Sniper’s smile widens. “‘Course he is,  _ vod,” _ he says, sounds amused. “You’re in the 501st now. Kix is the best medic this side of Coruscant.”

“Don’t let Scratch hear you say that,” another medic says wryly from where he’s working on General Skywalker.

“Oh,  _ ne’johaa, _ Tuck,” Sniper returns, and there’s laughter across the medbay.

Beta thinks he could get used to this.

~~~

Between the Jedi Healers working on Ahsoka's leg and her needing time in bacta for her stomach and General Skywalker being around half the time and her sleeping the rest of the time, Rex can't get a quiet minute with her for a whole week after they get back to Coruscant.

He's  _ wanted _ to sit with her, and just talk, but now that he's tugging a plastoid chair up next to her bunk, he's feeling much less sure of himself. Although it helps when she scooches herself up a little to lean against pillows piled against the headboard of her bunk and smiles at him, so intensely bright.

“Hey,” he says, tries to control his automatic grin a  _ little _ at least.

“You came!” Ahsoka says, looking from his chair to her bunk and back at his chair meaningfully.

“Yeah,” Rex answers with half a laugh, raising his eyebrow at her like  _ do you want something from me? _

She tilts her head, scowling, irritated, and crosses her arms. “Come  _ on _ , Rex, just come ‘ere.”

Rex grins, scoots his chair back and gets up to go over to her bunk, sits gingerly down on the edge and leans against her pillows a little. “Was that what you had in mind?” he says, hesitantly - he’s not  _ entirely _ sure (actually he’s not at all sure) what he’s doing, so bantering seems like something to start with.

“Shut  _ up _ ,” she says (okay good, that works), leans into him a little and pokes his side with one finger. “Your armor is  _ uncomfortable _ .”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Rex huffs. “It works pretty damn well though.”

Ahsoka glares up at him, like he was expected to do something about the fact that his armor is uncomfortable, although really there’s not so much he can do since it’s  _ plastoid _ . He shrugs at her, and she rolls her eyes and pokes his gauntlet and utility belt and pauldron. “You  _ could _ get rid of the really poky bits,” she says.

_ Bossy _ . Rex snorts and does what she wants, though, snaps off the offending armor pieces and unbuckles his belt (and the kama, with it). He pulls one of his DCs out of the holster, though, and sets it well within reach.

“Are you going to leave me alone, now?” he says, leaning back again, and she snuggles into his side, drops her head onto his shoulder.

“Nope.”

Just his luck. He has to fight back a very  _ dikut’la _ grin.

~~~

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Ahsoka admits after a moment, though she smiles widely when his arm drops around her shoulders. “I haven’t seen you at all.”

“Well,” Rex says lightly, “every time I came by, you were either in bacta or getting healed or asleep, or General Skywalker was here.”

Oh. Well, that makes more sense, then. “Well, I’m glad you’re here,” she says, snuggles closer to him.

He smiles, presses a light kiss to each of her montrals (and she makes a pleased noise in the back of her throat), says, “I’m glad I’m here too, Ahsoka.”

She just stays there, for a moment, revelling in the feel of his fingers tracing light little patterns on her arm, and then she sighs and says, “So…”

“So?” he asks, sounds amused, and she tilts her head up so she can look at him (though, admittedly, it’s a bit weird, since that means he’s half upside-down).

“Sooooo.” And she grins (hopes she can hide the sudden thrill of nerves). “You kissed me.”

“Yeah,” he says. “Is that bad?”

She blinks. Bad? The  _ kriff? _ “Rexter,” she says, patient, “I’ve been trying to get you to kiss me for like,  _ three months.” _

He blinks. “Oh. Well, great then,” he says,  _ almost _ deadpan. “Congratulations.”

The kriff. How is she supposed to respond to  _ that? _ “Although I really didn’t mean to almost die,” she tries, because it’s  _ true, _ she hasn’t been, like, specifically almost getting herself killed in the  _ hopes _ that he’ll kiss her. It’s just an… unexpected bonus.

“I’d  _ hope _ not,” he says dryly, though she thinks he’s concerned. “That might be going a little far. How about you stop doing that?”

Well. She’d  _ like _ to, but Jedi. But it’s a good segway, so she gives him a smile and says, “I’ll make you a deal: I’ll stop almost dying if you kiss me again.”

~~~

Personally, Rex thinks he’s getting more out of that deal than Ahsoka, so he nods sagely (ignores the buzzing anxiety in his stomach) and says, “Sounds fair.” She wrinkles her nose at him, like she has some idea he’s amused, and before he can lose his nerve he leans awkwardly over to kiss her nose. She makes an annoyed noise, and he laughs, gives her what she  _ actually _ wants and presses his lips to hers.

“You’re demanding,” he informs her, sitting back up, nervous energy still thrumming in his veins. “Aren’t Jedi supposed to be  _ patient _ ?”

“Have you  _ met _ my Master?” Ahsoka huffs, poking him in the side. “I never had a chance.”

“Fair enough.” Rex shifts further onto the bunk, closer to her. Sometimes he’s not even sure how General Skywalker  _ is _ a Jedi - he’s not like any of the rest of them, not even General Kenobi (who is reckless, too, as Cody is constantly complaining, but  _ steadier _ than General Skywalker). “Patience is overrated anyway,” he says. Waiting is patently exhausting.

Ahsoka giggles at him and rolls her eyes from where she’s still half-upside-down against his shoulder. “With how long it took you to kiss me, I would have thought you  _ liked  _ being patient.”

“Do you think I had  _ fun _ not kissing you?” Rex snorts. Waiting for something he was never going to have had been  _ much _ worse than just  _ being patient _ . He still thinks he’d better not think about this too much. “You made it very difficult, Commander.”

“Well, that  _ was _ the plan.”

“Then it was a well-executed plan,” Rex says lightly. “Because I was trying  _ very hard _ to not kiss you.”

Ahsoka hums a little, kind of a contemplative sound, and twists around to meet his eyes better. He thinks he sees a flash of hurt in her eyes for a second before she smiles wryly at him and says, “Is that what you were talking to Cody about?”

Ah,  _ kriff _ , yeah. That. Rex rubs the back of his neck and sighs. “Yeah. Sort of. He was reminding me to- be careful, mainly. Because of… you know.  _ This _ .” Rex doesn’t particularly want to talk about that, because he still doesn’t totally know how to dismiss his reasons for not letting himself think about her, and he doesn’t  _ want _ to leave this time. He wants to make this work, wants to try to  _ have this _ . He takes a deep breath and exhales, hard, shrugs. “I guess I didn’t listen very well.”

~~~

“For what it’s worth,” Ahsoka says lightly, trying to sound steady and calm and not like she’s afraid he’s going to  _ leave again, _ “I’m also not great at listening.”

“You don’t say,” Rex says wryly, and she pokes his chest.

“Shut  _ up. _ I mean that Jedi aren’t supposed to--have attachments.” His face shifts, and she hurries to add, “But also Anakin’s  _ married, _ so…”

Rex blinks. “The General is… is  _ married?” _

Oops.

He thinks about this for a second, and then raises an eyebrow and asks, “The  _ Senator?” _

She nods, flushing. “Yeah, um, they’re really bad at hiding it. But I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.” Kriff. He snorts and she blushes more, looks down, knows her whole  _ face _ and her montrals are burning, and swallows. Hard. “So if… you just pretend I never said anything, and  _ please never ever _ tell Fives,  _ Force, _ that’d be nice?”

~~~

“I’m hurt that you think I’d ever tell Fives about this, Ahsoka,” Rex says. Tell Fives that their General has a wife? That would be a total disaster. Hells, Rex  _ definitely  _ doesn’t- oh. Oh  _ kriff _ . He’s a gods-damned  _ idiot _ . If he hadn’t been so  _ busy _ lately he’d have realized a  _ lot _ sooner there was a reason behind Fives’ damn  _ significant looks _ . He groans, drops his head back against the headboard of the bunk. “He knows.  _ Haar’chak _ .”

“Fives know about Anakin being married?” she asks, sounding alarmed.

“Hells no. Worse. I think he saw me kiss you.” Which is what he  _ gets _ for kissing her in the  _ middle of a battle _ . Cody has utterly refused to discuss the issue with him, but Fives- Fives is, he’s sure, just  _ waiting _ for an opportunity.

“Well, you  _ did _ kiss me in the middle of a battle,” she says, and he  _ knows _ , and he regrets his timing. “Not that I’m complaining,” she adds, grinning, and Rex grumbles and shakes his head.

“Well, I am.  _ Little gods _ take it.” Fives was insufferable enough about his Commander already.

“Am I really that bad of a kisser?” He’d think she was serious except she’s  _ smirking _ at him again, very bright.

“Well,” he says, awkwardly, “I wouldn’t actually know, I haven’t really had  _ experience _ .” He shrugs. “I’m guessing we’re both awful at it, but I don’t know- It’s nice.” And he should  _ shut up _ . He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, glances at Ahsoka out of the corner of his eye. It looks like she’s trying not to laugh so he looks away again, grumbling to himself.

~~~

“You’re better at it than Lux Bonteri,” Ahsoka says with a little grin, leaning her head into his shoulder again. “And you’re a lot prettier than him, anyway.”

_ “Lux Bonteri?” _ Rex asks, blinking. “Who is--is that that Senator’s kid? The  _ skinny _ one?”

“He’s not  _ that _ skinny!” she protests. “And he’s nice, Rex, don’t be mean.”

“I’m not being  _ mean,” _ Rex says, grumpy. “He’s just skinny. And you’re not being particularly nice yourself,  _ cyar’ika.” _

“What, just because I kissed somebody else before?” Ahsoka snorts. “What’s  _ cyar’ika _ mean? That’s the second time you’ve called me that.”

“You’re rubbing my nose in it,” he says, and then pauses, awkwardly.  _ “Cyar’ika _ means, um. It means sweetheart.”

Ahsoka isn’t sure, at first, what’s cuter: how obviously  _ embarrassed _ he is by the nickname, or the fact that he’s calling her  _ sweetheart. _ She decides Rex is cuter, if only because of the blush staining his cheeks, and she nudges his shoulder with her own. “Cody told me it means  _ little friend,” _ she says with a snort. “After Mortis. I didn’t believe him.” Rex looks distinctly uncomfortable and so she beams up at him. “It’s  _ cute, _ Rexter!”

“You asked Cody what it meant?” He raises an eyebrow, though he looks  _ very _ nervous.

“Duh,” she says, snorts again. “I didn’t think you’d tell me, and besides, you wouldn’t even  _ look _ at me after we got back.”

~~~

Rex shifts uncomfortably on the bunk, rubs his hand against the outside of his thigh. “I know,” he says, uncertain. She doesn’t  _ look  _ upset, he thinks, but still, he feels like she should be. Was. He doesn’t know. He decides to leave it be, instead saying, hesitantly, “Cody’s a good  _ ori’vod _ .” And a prudent one; Rex thinks Fives would have just told Ahsoka what  _ cyar’ika _ meant.

_ Force _ he’s glad she didn’t ask Fives.

“Yeah.” Ahsoka frowns up at him (and it’s really cute that she’s still leaving her head on his shoulder). “Is he doing okay? After… Hotshot and Dodge and everyone?” She looks down again and picks at her fingernails a little.

Rex doesn’t know why he’s surprised she asked, but he smiles a little because it’s… he doesn’t know. Nice that she did. “Yeah, he’s alright,” he says. Cody is  _ always _ fine, is the thing, because Cody never has space to be anything  _ else _ . And losing men is routine - it happens, and they hurt, and then they go back to the  _ Resolute _ and they fill out reports and then they do it again. So, “He’s tired but he’s alright,” is always the answer.

Ahsoka hums a little, reaches one hand up to brush over his hair for a second. “It’s okay to not be okay, you know,” she tells him.

_ Not for a clone _ , he thinks. “I know,” he says. And he doesn’t want to think about all that just now (and Charger, and Aiden, and Cricket), so he sighs and puts both arms around Ahsoka, hesitates a second before kissing her cheek.

~~~

Ahsoka leans into Rex’s arms, hums a little. “Can I borrow your datapad?”

He blinks, frowns down at her. “Why do you ask?”

“I wanna watch Hero With No Fear,” she says, grinning at him. “They just released a new episode yesterday! It’s about the battle on Ryloth, and last week’s episode ended on a  _ horrible _ cliffhanger.”

Rex groans, dramatically. “I actually manage to come see you for the first time since  _ the Citadel _ and you wanna watch  _ that?” _

_ “Rex,” _ she whines, pouting, “it’s  _ funny!” _

“It’s  _ banthashit.” _

“Yeah, but it’s  _ funny _ banthashit,” she tells him.  _ “Please, _ Rex?”

“Fine,” he huffs, leaning over to grab his belt and pull his datapad out of it. “Here, take it. Are you gonna make me watch it with you?”

Ahsoka takes the datapad, gives him a wide-eyed, innocent look, says, “I haven’t seen you in a  _ week, _ Rexter, are you gonna just  _ leave _ already?”

~~~

“If you’re gonna watch this kriffing holo,” Rex grumbles, but he settles himself more comfortably on the bed, crosses his arms across his chest so she’s aware he’s doing this under protest. Ahsoka smirks,  _ clearly _ proud of herself (damn that little smirk), and props up the datapad in one hand while scooting onto his lap and wrapping her other arm around him, heedless of his crossed arms. Which is  _ very _ rude of her.

She scrolls through the episodes (and even the episode  _ titles _ are banthashit:  _ Seduction on Saleucami _ ,  _ Star-Crossed Battles, Set Me Free _ , a line from a sappy Alderaanian love poem) till she gets to the latest (which is called  _ Retaking Ryloth _ , not the worst name) and taps it with a very deliberate,  _ sassy  _ gesture.

Rex is reminded, not for the first time, that he  _ hates _ the Hero With No Fear theme song. Because it has one. And it’s kriffing excruciating to listen to.

Even though Ahsoka is singing along in what turns out to be a fairly pretty voice. It’s still the most  _ annoying _ thing he’s ever heard and she’s giving him a snarky look, purposely sending her voice off-key in all directions at the end of every line.

“I can just go,” he says sourly.

“No you can’t,” she retorts. “I am on  _ top _ of you, Rexter, and I have your datapad.”

“I could fix both those things.” Rex narrows his eyes at her, considers  _ actually _ snatching the datapad away and dumping her on the bed. It would be kinda funny. But she looks so proud of herself he decides not to. This time.

“Sure you could. Now shut up.”

Oh yes, because the episode is starting, how  _ wonderful _ . Rex doesn’t know what’s supposed to be happening because he doesn’t keep up with this banthashit, thank you very much, so he focuses instead on Ahsoka’s arm around him and the smug, delighted look on her face.

She laughs uproariously at what Rex suspects are  _ supposed  _ to be the emotional parts, pokes fun at her own actor and at General Skywalker’s, and points out to him whenever it’s very obvious that the holo footage is fake. It’s  _ almost _ fun, watching this with her, because she’s giggly and sarcastic against him and says all the things he  _ always _ thinks about the holo except in a way that is much more entertaining.

It’s still a shitty show.

But the quality (or lack thereof) of the holodrama have nothing to do with why he stays through the whole episode and then lets her show him the episode that came before it, and he certainly isn’t enjoying himself because of the  _ holo _ . It’s because- because of her.

And that’s such a novel thing that he almost doesn’t mind that one of the clone extras in the holodrama is played by a  _ Twi’lek _ .

~~~

It’s almost a month before Kix clears her to  _ walk, _ even, with a brace--like she’d  _ rebroken _ her leg or something. Which she hadn’t. She thinks. They would’ve told her if she had, right? (There’s a vague memory of someone’s voice humming unintelligible words as she floats on the Force and the Light and sweet, sweet pain relief, but try as she might she can’t discern the words.)

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter, she’s still  _ annoyed _ at the medic. Like, seriously. She’s  _ fine. _ But here she is, six weeks after the Citadel, and she’s stuck on karking  _ inventory. _ Because  _ apparently, _ she’s not allowed to do anything else, because, quote, “How can I trust you not to run off on a karking  _ extraction mission _ to a  _ maximum-security Separatist prison?” _

Kriff off, Kix.

But the good thing about inventory (there’s a good thing about inventory? yeah, it’d shocked her too) is that it’s time alone with Rex, with  _ no one else _ around, and they get so  _ little _ of that.

When Rex comes in to ‘help her’ (he’s been doing that a lot lately, Fives has been commenting on it), Ahsoka turns and grins at him, bright and cheery, says, “Hey, Rexter.”

“Hey,” he says, comes over and slips an arm around her back, even though he’s got his armor on and he’s all  _ poky. _ She leans into him anyway, hooks her arms around his neck and shifts onto her tiptoes to give him a little kiss, laughing.

“Wasn’t sure you’d come today,” she admits, dropping back down onto her heels, though she leaves her arms where they’re at.

“Of course I would,” he says. “Unless you don’t need my help…?” and his voice trails off meaningfully.

She punches his shoulder. “Shut  _ up, _ Rexter!”

~~~

“Are you gonna make me?” Rex teases, looking down at his Ahsoka and raising an eyebrow. She glares at him and tugs his head down so she can kiss him without going up on her toes, and he laughs at her but goes with it. “You’re so predictable, Ahsoka,” he huffs.

“What else was I gonna do, punch you harder? Because I could do that instead, you know.”

Rex chuckles and pulls back, kisses the tip of her nose, and then leans well away from her and more-or-less out of her reach. “If you think punching me harder would be more fun than kissing me, then by all means, try that.”

“I think it would be  _ way _ more fun,” she says, archly, and Rex smirks and steps all the way back, pulling her arms away from his neck. She flips him off, half-heartedly, blushing, and Rex picks up her datapad and brandishes it.

“Looks like you have a real fun inventory list today,  _ cyar’ika _ ,” he teases, ignoring how she still looks flustered. “I should just let you enjoy this by yourself, maybe.”

“ _ Shut up! _ ”

Rex chuckles and sets the datapad down, smiles at her. “Fine. But Fives is starting to wonder why I’m doing inventory so much and Cody thinks I’m being a  _ di’kut _ .”

“Well, who cares what they think about it?” Ahsoka says, which is patently her. Rex shakes his head, starts looking over a rack of blaster rifles.

“I care, Ahsoka. They leave you alone because you’re a Jedi and a superior officer, but Fives is insufferable enough as it is without knowing all the details of my- of, I don’t know,  _ this _ .” He gestures back and forth between them with a small sigh, although he’s still smiling. As he and Ahsoka had found out with a little probing,  _ probably _ the only people who saw them kissing were Alpha, Beta, Fives, and Cody. Whether either of the Generals saw, Rex doesn’t know, and he does not plan on trying to find out.

No one else needs to know.

~~~

_ “This?” _ Ahsoka asks, mimicking the gesture, and then she snorts. (Tries to ignore the fact that her face is still hot from his  _ Force-damned _ smirk.) “Is that what we’re calling it, now?”

“Well, I’m not wrong,” Rex says, casually, counting cases of grenades. “What did you want me to call it?”

Which is a good question, but  _ still. _ “I don’t know Rex, something besides  _ this?” _

“We’re short grenades again,” he mumbles, scowls down at the datapad. “Damn Hardcase. Should ask him why are we  _ always _ kriffing short grenades.”

“Hardcase takes grenades?”

“I swear he collects them.”

That’s an amusing thought. “Why would anyone collect grenades?”

Rex shrugs. “Why does Hardcase do any of the shit he does? Little gods only know.”

She giggles, can’t help it. “Did he really accidentally set off a smoke bomb in the barracks once?”

He scowls. “Hardcase  _ accidentally,” _ and he fingerquotes the word, “set off smoke bombs in the barracks  _ four times _ before I confiscated all of them. _ Four times.” _

“So  _ that’s _ why the fire alarms kept going off!” She laughs gleefully. “Anakin and I could  _ not _ figure out what the problem was.”

~~~

“Well, yes, that would be because we dealt with it  _ internally _ ,” Rex says dryly. That’s how he deals with most of the problems in the barracks,  _ particularly _ when those problems originate with Hardcase. Rex does not usually want to bother his General with the escapades of his most trigger-happy  _ vod _ . “Actually, I deal with almost everything internally. It’s easier that way, not getting you high brass involved.” He swipes on his datapad screen, smiles a little to himself.

“I’m high brass now, am I?” she says, hands on her hips, and Rex chuckles.

“Yeah, you are. You better set a good example for your troops focus on the inventory, sir, you have a job to do. I feel like I’m doing all the work here, which was  _ not _ the point of this.”

Ahsoka drops her hands off her hips and takes a few light steps his way, lips twisting in a knowing little smirk. “Oh? Then what  _ was _ the point of this,  _ Captain _ Rex?” she says, and  _ kriff her _ . Rex swallows and closes a crate of droid poppers, focuses  _ very hard _ on the datapad.

“Not you pestering me, that’s for sure,” he says, trying to be careless. “This is very important work, Commander Tano, you need to be taking it seriously.”

“Oh, I  _ am _ ,” she says, low and pleased with herself.

Rex would like her to  _ stop doing that _ . “Your definition and mine must be very different,  _ cyar’ika _ .” She’s incorrigible and he has to stop biting off more than he can chew.

“Mm, I don’t think so,” Ahsoka says, and she’s walked even closer, and Rex sets down her datapad on a pile of crates and turns to face her, crossing his arms.

“You’re being  _ very _ difficult.”

“Yeah, that was the idea,” she hums, grinning at him and stepping into his space.

Rex snorts. “‘Course it was.” He takes a step of his own towards her, unfolds his arms, and runs a hand down one of her headtails - before twisting away, swiping the datapad off the crates, and striding over to a rack of blasters to look them over.

“ _ Reeex _ ,” Ahsoka whines, grumpily, and Rex bites back a smirk and a laugh, pretends not to be paying any attention. “I hate you.”

“I know,” he says, chuckling.

What a bummer for him.

He checks a blaster, sets it back, and then his wristcomm beeps and he answers with a disgruntled sigh. “Rex here.”

“ _ Hey, Captain _ .” It’s Fives, and he sounds strained, worried. Rex goes still, frowns. “ _ We’ve got a problem, sir, we- You gotta get down here _ .”

“On my way, Fives.” Rex walks back over to Ahsoka, passes her the datapad.

~~~

“What’s wrong?” Ahsoka asks, the teasing mood shattered, her eyes going wide and worried. “Is everything okay? I’ll come with you--”

“Don’t worry about it, ‘Soka,” Rex says, tugs her into his arms and runs a hand down her back headtail (which feels  _ kriffing good, _ but even that can’t distract her). “I’ll be right back once I’ve dealt with it--probably just Hardcase kriffing off again.”

“Fives sounded upset,” she says, uncharacteristically  _ unsure _ about this--some instinct is  _ screaming _ at her,  _ don’t let him walk away without you, don’t let go, don’t let him go, _ and she shivers and tightens her arms around him. “I’ll come, really, Rex, I want to.”

“I know you do,” and he drops a kiss light to her forehead. “But like I said, I handle most of this shit internally. I’ll be back, alright?”

“Promise?” she asks, looking up at him, unaccountably  _ scared _ and not sure  _ why. _

“Yeah, promise,” he says, cups her cheek and leans in to kiss her. She melts into the kiss, winds an arm around his neck so she can run her fingers through his hair, hums against his lips. And then he pulls back, traces a finger over the white markings on her cheek, smiles, and walks away.

Ahsoka stares at him until he’s gone and then shifts her gaze to the datapad, but all she can see is the softness and warmth in his golden eyes, hiding a depth of  _ fear. _

_ You shouldn’t have let him go. _

_ (Don’t you remember what happens when you let go?) _

~~~

The moment Rex strides through the doors into the barracks, he  _ knows _ this has nothing to do with Hardcase. Everyone is so  _ quiet _ , close to their bunks, barely talking, and Fives hurries up to him, helmet jammed tight under his arm. “Rex, they came and took Shrike.”

“ _ What? _ ” Rex takes Fives by the shoulder, steers him over by his own bunk so he can set his helmet down. “Fives, they didn’t.”

“They did.” Fives is  _ seething _ .

“The supply ship was  _ months _ ago!”

Some three months ago now, one of the 501st pilots, Shrike, had made a  _ really kriffing huge _ mistake in a battle and blown up a Republic supply shipment. They’d all been convinced, for weeks, that the GAR was going to recondition Shrike, they’d prepared themselves to lose him, had talked him through panic attacks (“you won’t know, Shrike, your new battalion will be good too and you’ll still get a name and paint”), and then… and then nothing. For three months. It’s been fine, they thought he got away with it, they thought the GAR hadn’t known or had understood that it was a mistake.

But no, of course that was a  _ damn _ stupid thing to think.

“They just came and they said they needed to take Shrike for reconditioning, Rex, and we- You know how it is. He was crying, Rex.”

Rex grits his teeth, closes his eyes. Shrike was a talented, dynamic soldier (for all that he was a  _ pilot _ ), liked to laugh, was fast and clever and liked arguing with the rest of Rex’s  _ vode _ . No time to do anything for Shrike, this time- normally they all sort of knew when this was coming, and there would be drinks and waiting and promises to remember.

“I told him,” Fives says dejectedly. “ _ Ni partayli, gar darasuum _ . I did my best, Rex.”

“I know.” Rex rubs his face with one hand, glances around the barracks. They should have known, they should have known this would happen, but three months- Shrike had seemed safe, they took him to 79’s to celebrate, Brii helped him touch up the nose art on his fighter. But he’s gone now.

His  _ vode _ are all looking at him, so Rex hangs onto Fives’ shoulder and repeats the phrase, “ _ Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum _ ,” and they all join in, slow, and they pause, then, “Shrike.”

Their  _ vod _ is gone. And there are a lot of things they tell themselves to make it feel better somehow, things that run similar to Tarkin’s assertion that it’s a blank slate and a new start, but it isn’t.

There’s a reason they recite the names of their reconditioned  _ vod _ with the names of the dead.

Rex finds his younger  _ vod _ , Brii, crying next to Tup and Dogma, and he pulls Brii into a hug.

“I just gave him a new tattoo,” Brii manages. “It was a  _ stupid _ one.”

Rex nods, hangs onto his  _ vod’ika _ . “I know.”

He makes his way among his brothers, the ones that want him to, stops to press his forehead to Akaan’s, who’s choking on silent sobs.

They’re going to be struggling with this for a few days. And then, as they always must, every time, they’ll move on, and their  _ vod _ will still be gone, because they’re clones and this is all they get.

~~~

Ahsoka’s barely gotten through half the inventory (she should be almost done, by now, but something feels  _ wrong _ and cold and  _ sick) _ when Rex comes back. Minus his helmet, looking exhausted and hurting and sick and  _ you should have gone with him, you shouldn’t have let him go. _ “Rex?” she tries, shaky, immediately setting the datapad down. “Are you--what’s wrong, what happened?”

He tries to smile, but it’s more of a pained grimace, which just sets her  _ more _ on edge, and she realizes she’s shaking when her teeth clack together, painfully. She hugs herself, looks wide-eyed up at him as he walks over, tense as a steel cable stretched to the snapping point. Manages one sentence, simple and short and stone: “Shrike got reconditioned.”

The words hit like a punch to the gut, driving her stomach to her spine, forcing the air out of her lungs all in a  _ whoosh, _ and she chokes for a moment. Remembers the incident, three or so months ago: Shrike, one of the fighter pilots, had kriffed up while the 501st had been defending a caravan of Republic supply ships, blown one up. It’d been a  _ mistake, _ an accident. “Because of the--ship?” she forces out past numb lips. Can’t breathe. Everything’s cold and sick and twisted. (She should’ve  _ gone with him.) _

“Yeah,” he says, still stone. His eyes are burning. Face emotionless, like he’s carved out of marble, out of granite. She thinks if she touches him, he’ll burn her fingers, like the ice on Ilum. Cold and hollow and shatter-sharp and screaming when it breaks.

She thinks if she touches him, he’ll snap.

_ (If a steel cable snaps, _ says Rowdy, one of the old clones still left when she joins the 501st,  _ you gotta get out of the way  _ **_fastlike,_ ** _ Commander, you hear? There’s so much force behind those cables they’ll slice your head off your body, faster than you can blink, _ and he draws a finger across his neck,  _ and there’ll be no more Commander Tano left to annoy the shit out of me.) _

(Rowdy dies two weeks later because of her inexperience. At least she’s no longer annoying the shit out of him.)

She doesn’t step closer, because when he moves she can hear his body groan and crack, like a glacier, like that  _ damned _ cable, and she knows the signs. Knows what will happen.  _ No more Commander Tano. _ So she keeps space, doesn’t approach, though she wants nothing more than to wrap her arms tight around him, like a vise, like an anchor, hold him close until he’s warm again, burn away the screaming in his eyes.

~~~

He doesn’t know why he came back here. It’s so much easier to be  _ still _ when she can’t see, when she isn’t looking up at him with aching, understanding blue eyes, and the only way he knows how to do this is to be  _ ice _ .

She holds his eyes, so he can’t make himself look away, and says, very gentle, “I’m here.” And she waits, arms still wrapped around her stomach, barely even fidgeting. And she is here, it should be good that she’s here. It  _ is  _ good.

“Yeah,” Rex says, tightly, the word scraping harsh in the back of his throat, like frost. He shifts, looks down (and it’s too much, he knows better, he should be  _ still _ , and it would pass), makes the mistake of passing his hand over his face, acknowledging that he’s  _ tired _ , and that’s too much suddenly and it’s all  _ there _ , right there in the front of his mind where he didn’t want it, and he closes his eyes and takes half a step towards Ahsoka.

As soon as he moves, she’s there, twining her arms around his waist and holding on so tight it almost makes everything feel okay, better, but then it doesn’t. And he doesn’t know why, so he puts his arms around her, too, tries to hang on, but he’s hollow in the pit of his stomach and it doesn’t fix anything.

And Shrike was supposed to be safe, supposed to be fine, but he  _ wasn’t _ , and Rex’s  _ vode _ get taken and no one can do anything about it, whatever they say. He chokes a little, tightens his hold on Ahsoka for a second, and then he scrambles desperately for the durasteel stillness again, pulls away from her and leaves his hands at his sides, curls them into fists and holds so, so careful.

“I can’t-” he says, finds he sounds choked, has to take a moment to find more control. “I can’t do this.”

Ahsoka scans his face, fast, takes a step back, and Rex has to look down from her ocean-blue eyes, so frightened. “What do you- What do you mean?” He tightens his fists, digging for what to say. “Rex?”

“They need me, I can’t- I can’t leave them. I’m their Captain, Ahsoka, what are they gonna do if I’m gone?”

~~~

“I don’t understand,” Ahsoka chokes out, staring helplessly, hopelessly at Rex’s face. He is exhausted and afraid and horrified, she thinks, and it’s like he’s--she doesn’t know, but she doesn’t  _ understand _ and he’s just pulling back and she doesn’t  _ want to lose him. _ Not now, not after everything. “Where--would you go?”

“If I get  _ reconditioned,” _ he says, spits the word out like the poison it is, “then they don’t have  _ anyone, _ and I can’t risk that.”

No. No, he can’t  _ do this, _ he can’t, she won’t-- “Rex,” she says, hard and fast, “you  _ know _ Anakin and I--we’d protect you, we wouldn’t let anything happen to you.  _ I  _ won’t let anything happen. I promise.”

“It isn’t that  _ simple,” _ he snaps out, frustrated. “We didn’t know they were gonna take Shrike and they don’t ask  _ permission, _ because they don’t  _ have _ to.”

Ahsoka fights to keep herself from taking another step back. She doesn’t want to back away.  _ (Don’t you remember, child? Don’t let go.) _ “I--it  _ is, _ though, Rex, it is that simple, we’ll--don’t you  _ trust me, _ Rex? Trust me to keep you safe?”

Rex winces, just a little. “You know I trust you,” he says, soft, low, pained. “And my men trust  _ me. _ And there’s still--nothing I can do to save them. Don’t you  _ get it, _ ‘Soka?” He takes a sharp breath in. “This is just what  _ happens, _ and no one stops it because at the end of the day we’re just--” and he stops himself, swallows hard, takes another steady breath. “You can’t do everything and be everywhere, and sooner or later it just…” He shrugs, looks down. “And I can’t leave them by themselves.”

She’s not sure where in the middle of all that the tears start, but she looks down, looks away, tries to swallow them back. He--he can’t  _ do this, _ but she--how can she stop him? Because in a way he’s--right, nobody cares for the loopholes or the technicalities, it’s the GAR, not the Senate, and… and his men will always come first. Which is--okay, she guesses, it’s alright, it makes sense. It’s the way the world  _ works. _ But she hates it and she doesn’t want to lose him and she thought--thought that maybe him finally… that all of this, it meant he would--but she was wrong.  _ Damn it. _ “You aren’t  _ just _ anything,” slips out, very soft, and she turns away, picks up the datapad and bows her shoulders and pretends she can see through the tears in her eyes. “Not to--not to Anakin, not to me.”

But that doesn’t matter, because--because she’s not the one who…  _ kriff it all. _ She hates this. So so much.

She wants him  _ back. _

~~~

Rex stares at Ahsoka’s back and wishes this felt more like the right thing to do, but it doesn’t. It just feels like the only thing, or the least awful one. “Maybe not to you,” he says, quietly. “But you know that doesn’t matter in this war.” What he is to Ahsoka doesn’t change what he  _ actually _ is, and he doesn’t know- maybe she won’t understand. He feels like he needs her to - maybe it would hurt her less, if she did.

She’s so very, very small and pained and- and  _ broken _ when she answers, soft, “It should.”

“But it doesn’t,” he says, feels the words heavy in his chest and then between them, final, like stone. What she thinks of him and his men will always matter, to him, but no one else. “So I can’t do this.” He clenches his fists, harder, turns away before he can talk himself out of it, strides for the door even though he feels like he’s going to shatter into a thousand jagged, cold shards.

There’s a soft scuff of boots on durasteel, then desperate, pained, “I love you.”

It hits like a blaster bolt to the stomach, hot and sharp and intense, slamming him to a halt, and he’s  _ known _ that but now that she’s said it, he wants to be sick, wants to lock his arms around his stomach and sob, but he  _ can’t _ . “I-” He stops, choking. “I’m  _ sorry _ .” And he holds himself so stiff he could crack and walks away from her, out of the armory.

It’s time to wake up.


End file.
